Bar Q, A Casa Fox, Cho Cho San, Fig and Olive Midtown

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Recently Opened

• Bar Q - Annisa chef Anita Lo's new Asian BBQ restaurant in Greenwich Village. Check out our impression from opening night on Savory Tidbits.
• Bar Milano - The crew behind 'ino, 'inoteca and Lupa have opened another Italian restaurant, this time in Gramercy park. They open early (7am) and close late (3am).
• A Casa Fox - Melissa Fox went from passionate home cook to successful caterer Lower East Side restaurant owner. Stop in for Fox's take on Latin cooking.
• Cho Cho San - A new Japanese restaurant from a former opera director and the former chef of Taste of Toyko now open on 8th Street in Greenwich Village.
• Fig and Olive Midtown - The third location of this popular Mediterranean restaurant just opened on 52nd Street between Fifth and Madison.

 This Week's Restaurant Reviews

• NY Times: Frank Bruni reviews Chop Suey located in Times Square and gives it one star. Despite a stunning view of the landmark area, Bruni gets right down to it not even a quarter of the page down with, "Chop Suey, which mingles Korean and other Asian traditions, is an uneven mash of inspiration and clumsiness."
• Eric Asimov takes a look at the city's wine bar trend.
• In Dining Briefs Frank Bruni revisits at Momofuku Noodle Bar, "service was expert, and so, in the end, was most of the kitchen's output." Peter Meehan stops into Savory favorite Beer Table and calls it "a fantastic spot for Park Slopers looking for a civilized way to wind down and a new pilgrimage site for beer geeks citywide."
• New York Magazine's Adam Platt scores a reservation at the 14-seat Momofuku Ko and gives the restaurant 4 of 5 stars after just one meal. "Should we subtract a star for the absurd reservation system? But then we'd have to add it right back because the price is so good. And then there's the food, which Chang, already a multi-star chef, takes to another level."
• Bloomberg: Ryan Sutton checks out the new De Niro TriBeCa spot, Ago. "Save money: Split everything. Portions are mostly huge. Perhaps that's why boar pappardelle costs $26. The payoff? Perfectly al dente noodles, rich meat. For $24, heady veal inflates pockets of verdant pasta."
• The New York Sun: Paul Adams visits Eighty-One and notes that it "feels like it is run by a bunch of well-funded children doing their best to play Restaurant, with all of the trappings and none of the understanding."
• The New York Daily News: RG gives 2 of 4 stars to Eighty-One. "Eighty One puts a high premium on luxury ingredients with downright lofty prices; the contemporary American menu is peppered with foie gras, sweetbreads and truffles."
• The Village Voice: Robert Sietsema goes to Soba Totto. "The list of skewers once again concentrates on organic chicken, including parts you probably never would have eaten. Nonkotsu ($3) is the creature's sternum, an aerodynamic-looking bone that's ganged up three to a stick like jet planes flying in formation, producing a soft crunch as you bite down....Chicken meatball and chicken skin are the awesomest, the chicken skin cut in little coins and stacked vertically on the stick rather than pinned to it like a sail."

Blogs and Newsletters

• Brooklyn Based turns us on to gold twinkies (available weekends only) at Jan and Daya Bakery.
• Grub Street has it that Cafe Gray located in the Time Warner Center is closing June 30th.
• Gotham Gal decides to dine at Craftsteak despite the gloomy reviews it received when it opened two years ago.
• According to Strong Buzz, Alain Ducasse will open the New York location of Benoit on April 21st in the former La Cote Basque space on West 55th Street.

Events Around Town
Beer Table in Park Slope is opening its doors early on Saturday 4/12 from 3-5pm to pour a special gravity keg of Uerige DoppelSticke. This fine brew is an unfiltered, unpasteurized, "vibrantly hoppy, malty, delicious beer that's so special that we couldn't resist giving it a couple of hours alone in the spotlight."

In Other News

If you haven't heard by now we're sorry to say, Meatpacking District pioneer Florent will close it's doors on June 30th. Word on the street is that they've been playing to packed crowds as diners run to get in a last meal. A friend who had a recent meal there reports that the food was very good.

Wd-50 will start serving lunch Wed-Fri starting April 23rd. a 7-course tasting menu will be $75.