Pete Wells Looks Behind Tandoor Number Two

[karsten moran for the nytimes] executive chef gaurav anandMoti Mahal Delux opened on the Upper East Side five months ago. The restaurant doesn't have a liquor license, but it does have a tandoor oven. The unique flavors it imparts on a handful of dishes at Moti Mahal Delux is largely responsible for the two-stars Pete Wells gives the restaurant in today's review.

"The restaurant, which opened in July," Wells writes, "is itself an outpost of an empire, a chain centered in New Delhi that has built a formidable reputation among Indians for its tandoori chicken, butter chicken and that black-lentil dal." Tandoori refers to anything that's been cooked in a tandoor oven; an ancient cooking vessel whose heat source is generated by wood or charcoal. Modern tandoor range in shape, size, and material, but the originals were small, portable, cylindrical clay ovens.

At Moti Mahal Delux, in addition to the transformation papdum undergoes in the tandoor, "The tandoor also imparts a winning smokiness to an unpromising-sounding snack of grilled pineapple, sweet potato, apple and bell pepper in a sweet-tart malt vinegar marinade that has a slowly mounting black-pepper buzz." The dish is one example of the vegetarian dishes that Moti Mahal Delux does well. Desserts, like the walls, were mismarked, "For a new restaurant, it has a few spots too many that could use a fresh coat of paint." Cosmetics aside, the two stars will surely boost business, and something tells us lunch just got a whole lot busier too: "A weekday lunch special with two appetizers, three entrees, a biryani, naan and dessert comes to less than $12."

No Meat, No Matter; Two Stars for Dirt Candy

[nagle for the ny times] cabbage at dirt candyKate's Joint raised the bar for American-vegetarian food when it opened in the East Village back in 1996. The restaurant closed earlier this year, but Dirt Candy is there to carry the Village's vegetarian torch. Dirt Candy is what Amanda Cohen calls vegetables, it's also the name of her restaurant she opened in 2008. The restaurant's website explains, "When you eat a vegetable you’re eating little more than dirt that’s been transformed by plenty of sunshine and rain into something that’s full of flavor: Dirt Candy."

In his two star review of the restaurant today, Pete Wells enjoys the food and the way humor plays a part in the Dirt Candy experience, "Since opening Dirt Candy in the East Village almost four years ago, the chef Amanda Cohen has been waging war on the “eat your vegetables” mind-set, using humor as one of her weapons." Cohen's sense of humor is found throughout the restaurant's website and menu, wine list included, where a sparkling wine on offer from the Veneto is described as, "A fresh, lively sparkling wine from Italy that dances on your face." "Humor is so integral to Ms. Cohen’s work," Wells writes, "that she may be the only chef in America who could publish her first cookbook in comic-book form and make the decision seem not just sensible but inevitable."

Writing a menu is never a simple task, and when the menu is completely void of an entire food group, a heightened level of creativity is called for to ensure seats will be filled on a nightly basis, even if there are only 18, as is the case at Dirt Candy. This creativity shows up at the restaurant in dishes like eggplant tiramisu and the cauliflower entree, where "Ms. Cohen gives cauliflower florets a long bath in maple smoke, dips them in cornflakes, fries them to a golden crisp and serves them on waffles." It's a playful twist on the chicken and waffles classic. There are a few misses on the menu, but, ultimately, Wells finds Cohen is "not adapting the vegetarian cuisine of some other culture. She is inventing her own."

Steady as M. Wells Goes

When Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis opened M. Wells in Long Island City, Queens in 2010, they did so without a long-term lease. Longevity wasn't an option, but the married couple opened anyway because they lived across the street and had faith in their community. When news began to spread that the diner was actually closing, the public became curious to see the couple's next move. There was talk of a steak house and catamaran in LIC, but M. Wells Dinette, their cafeteria-style restaurant at MoMA PS1, came first. Just as Sam Sifton awarded M. Wells two stars in April last year, Pete Wells gives M. Wells Dinette two stars today.

The lunch only, schoolhouse dinette pays homage to the building's former identity as a school. As far as what's going on in the kitchen, Wells has this to say, "A native of Quebec, Mr. Dufour learned his blithe disregard for moderation while cooking at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal, where he was also the pastry chef and an owner. Most of the time, his celebration of the unbridled joy of eating like a lumberjack is so convincing that I’d be prepared to split cordwood all day just to earn the right to pull up a chair."

There are a few misses at M. Wells Dinette, but nothing Dufour's otherwise sturdy repertoire and pastry chef Bethany Costello's deft touch with seasonal fruits can't make up for.

646-532-GUYS

[photo; kelbaugh for the new york times]Our initial reaction when we heard Pete Wells reviewed Guy Fieri's new East Coast implant was, "With so many great (new) restaurants in the city, why would Wells waste time in the culinary void that is Times Square at Guy's American Kitchen & Bar?" Then we remembered it's his job to explore, in its entirety, the establishments that make up this city's food landscape. Sometimes that means taking the train to 42nd Street.

The New York Times restaurant critic is like the industry's shepherd; the foreman. By monitoring the cuisine and experience had at restaurants throughout the city, their opinion keeps restaurants on their toes. Unlike the bored and whiny voice of the Yelp writer, the fastidious efforts found in the New York Times restaurant review column are of great concern in New York and beyond. From Claiborne to Reichl to Wells, whether one agrees or disagrees with a particular critic's style of writing or distribution of stars, the restaurant critic for the New York Times stands as the superintendent of the world's greatest food city. Sometimes, entirely beyond the critic's control, a restaurateur will crash into the landscape of New York City restaurants. When they do, their efforts are subject not only to the opinion of an informed public, but to the more aptly tuned-in scrutiny of the Times critic.

We'll be the first to stand up in support of Guy's shenanigans on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." In many ways, "Triple D" is a deeply personal, introspective look into the heart and soul of this country's food culture. The eateries Fieri visits are the type of lunch counters and grease pits that Americans have frequented for decades. They are post World War II creations made possible by the development of industrial farming and a disregard for caloric intake. They are also places where 85% of the inventory is frozen.

When it comes to Guy Fieri's food, we've never gone out of our way to eat it, which may or may not be on purpose. Our only taste of Fieri's fiery combinations of adjective-heavy preparations presented at the likes of Johnny Garlic's, Tex Wasabi's, and now Guy's American Kitchen & Bar, comes via another Food Network show: "Guy's Big Bite," in which we learned Fieri is a California native with an unorthodox approach to cooking that might be better suited for those parts of America that happen to be no less than 500 miles from large bodies of salt water.

That's not to deny Fieri's impact on America's food culture, but in a city where chefs are shaving frozen foie gras over lychee and pine nut brittle, and making edible squid ink baguettes that resemble razor clam shells, maybe there is little room for "Awesome Pretzel Chicken Tenders" and "Tequila Turkey Fettucine."

From Kung Fu Fighting to Downtown Dining, Hopefully

In lieu of a review this week, Pete Wells penned "Why Downtown Needs Diners Now," in which he embraces the culinary landscape in downtown Manhattan. He writes, "While other neighborhoods suffered more, downtown needs support now, too." Aside from physical damage brought by Hurricane Sandy Monday, October 29th, the ensuing power outage forced restaurants to throw out perishable inventory. "This is a big hit for businesses that get by on small margins," Wells notes, "and for workers who are often paid by the hour. A few places may not survive. All will struggle."

Wells describes the southern end of Manhattan as "the place where chefs come to think big thoughts, still, even with Brooklyn rising." It is there where you'll find "thinkers," "highly-distinctive voices," a "virtuosic manipulator of flavor and texture" in Paul Liebrandt of Corton, David Bouley, whose "mind won't stop whirring," and Annita Lo, a protege of Bouley's, who is guided at her restaurant Annisa by her "uncannily perceptive palate."

There is a unique charm and culinary talent enduring in restaurants south of 23rd Street. "Right now, these restaurants, the people who own them and, even more, the people who work for them, need us. And we need them. Downtown’s restaurants show us who we are." All told, the article lists 29 restaurants that exemplify the downtown experience. Perhaps now more than ever, any restaurant would be grateful to accomodate guests, but we thought we'd lay out those mentioned in the article for a quick reference on where you might go to do your part:

Park Slope's Talde Gets a Star

[kara zuaro] Dale Talde, David Massoni, and John Bush are neighborhood guys. At the root of their partnership and business model is a shared desire to provide good food and a casual dining experience. Dale Talde recently became a partner at Thistle Hill Tavern, Massoni and Bush's first restaurant in Park Slope, where he is now in charge of the menu there. Talde, the trio's most ambitious restaurant, was less than a year old when the team opened Pork Slope, an American Honky Tonk serving chef Talde's take on bar food. As for the restaurant, Talde's immediate success when it opened in January has given the Park Slope eatery serious culinary momentum, the likes of which has brought in Pete Wells, who filed a one-star review on the restaurant today.

"About a month into its run," Wells writes, "the dining room ticked along briskly, and the cooking, which could be called pan-Asian if that didn’t sound so alarming, was smart and skillful." That was before Talde was in charge of three menus, hard work to say the very least. The best way to deal with that is to be at three places at once, but science hasn't made that possible yet. In his review, Wells mentions how whenever Talde was in the kitchen, "The food was back to its old, confident self."

The review seems to suggest that had Talde been in the kitchen on each of the three visits Wells made before he could file his review, an unwritten (written?) Times requirement, he may have stamped it with a second star. Talde, no stranger to competition, is ready to do what it takes to right the wrongs. He had this to say about the review via Twitter:

"21" Club Short On Stars, Not Charm

[photo: krieger] chicken hash at "21" clubWells describes his review of "21" Club this week as, "a kind of love letter to a restaurant where the food is largely forgettable and the prices are almost always unwarranted."  Some of the food "was classic, unsuspenseful and solidly prepared," but Wells explains, "I ate only four things at “21” that I’d go back for with any anticipation."

The restaurant's saving grace seems to come via wine director Phil Pratt and the bathroom attendant, "whom everybody calls the Rev."  "On a good night," Wells explains, "everybody who works at “21” behaves like a bartender, and the meal sails along on a river of alcohol and high spirits."  It's Pratt's job to keep the booze flowing and he does so with a "practiced theatricality and patter more often heard above the splash of gin than the gentle swirl of old Bordeaux."

As for the Rev, "he holds court among vintage pastel murals that depict men and women relieving themselves in complicated ways, scenes that were naughty once and will be bizarre forever."

Wells makes it clear that "21" Club has its misgivings, but the amount of charm at 21 West 52nd Street warrents a "satisfactory" rating.  His review ends with a list of regrets, namely missing the chance to sing at Bill's Gay Nineties before it closed and tuning in to Danny Stiles back when he was a record spinning radio host.  When it comes to dining at "21" club, Wells concludes, "I don't want to add "21" to the list."

Yunnan Kitchen Has a One-Star Advantage

whole crispy shrimp at yunnan kitchen - yana paskova for the ny timesPete Wells heads to Yunnan Kitchen on the Lower East Side for this week's review.  He explains the restaurant, previously featured on our Donde Dinner? column, "takes a farmers’ market approach to the cuisine of Yunnan Province in China."  This approach has already proved successful at the hands of Ed Schoenfeld and Joe Ng at RedFarm in the West Village.  Their website describes the food at RedFarm as "inspired Chinese cuisine with Greenmarket sensibilities."

At Yunnan Kitchen, "Mr. Post’s fresh, locavore sensibility leads to straightforward and uncomplicated cooking," Wells writes.  This sensibility in Travis Post ripened during his stint at Franny's in Brooklyn.  Overall, this approach to cooking, along with the access and captial to purchase quality products, plays a significant role not just in the success of Yunnan Kitchen, but restaurants city wide.  Wells describes it as a "revolution," and explains that it "hasn't reached all quarters.  Along Lexington Avenue, great Indian cooks are currying nondescript chicken; Thai chefs in Queens are making do with spongy pork; and in Brooklyn, Nigerian kitchens are stewing farmed fish that bears only a slight resemblance to the original article."  "Those Thai chefs," he continues, "can’t buy Berkshire pork if it means tripling prices and alienating core customers."

The review suggests a set of advantages found at Yunnan Kitchen and "restaurants that have the financing and the cultural wherewithal to bring in customers who will pay for premium ingredients."  Yunnan Kitchen may not serve food that has the same caliber of authenticity found at the likes of Andy Ricker's restaurants, which helped earn Pok Pok NY two stars, but the local, seasonal approach to cooking, coupled with access and funds to purchase quality ingredients from established purveyors is enough to elevate the restaurant to star quality.