Yakitori Totto, Convivio, Delicatessen, Peaches

// This Week on Savory New York //

In part 3 of 3 of our Destination Dishes, Japanese Cuisine edition, Elizabeth S. Bennett visits Yakitori Totto on 55th street in midtown to sample their succulent kawa (chicken skin) and wagyu beef tongue skewers. Find out which of the two she declares "heaven on a stick."

// Recently Opened //

• Convivio - The Tudor City restaurant formerly known as L'Impero. Chef Michael White is at the stoves crafting his take on Southern Italian cooking.
• Delicatessen - From the same team that brought Cafeteria to Chelsea comes this sure to be "uber-hip" comfort food restaurant in SoHo. With menu covers featuring photos by Terry Richardson and uniforms by Charlotte Ronson this place is sure to be jammed once fashion week rolls around.
• Peaches - The owners of Smoke Joint in Fort Greene have just opened this Stuy Heights Southern-style bistro.

// This Week's Restaurant Reviews //

• NY Times: Frank Bruni reviews Oceana giving it 3 of 4 stars. He compares the food to Le Bernardin with some caveats: prices are a little lower, and the "execution less precise." "What has long distinguished Oceana and what distinguishes it still is its polyglot approach to its menu, on which different dishes turn in different directions for the sidekicks and seasonings to accompany different fish."
• Dining Briefs checks out newcomers, Kafana (East Village) and Wildwood BBQ (Gramercy)
• NY Mag: Adam Platt visits Scarpetta, a restaurant which is getting a lot of chef buzz (3 of 5 stars). "(Scott Conant's) high-minded, almost priestly brand of Italian cooking hasn't changed very much, but in this more casual downtown setting, the food seems more enjoyable and less precious."
• The New York Sun: Paul Adams has a different take on Scarpetta. The osso buco: "rather tasteless and dry." The ravioli: "A reduction of Marsala coats the triangle-shaped dumplings of thick house-made pasta ($22), which gape at their seams, exposing a reddish-brown filling of duck meat and liver. But the sweet, intense wine does nothing to cut the impact of the hyper-rich, gamy meat; the dish yields just one heavy, monotonous forkful after another." And on chef, Scott Conant, "The chef, demonstrably capable of tasty things, seems to spend his evenings schmoozing at the bar, while the kitchen's output feels rote and uninspired."
• Village Voice's Robert Sietsema visits recently DOH'd Cabrito and has a great meal. What makes it worth checking out? Seitsema calls out the tacos with homemade chorizo, "New York's best fish tacos" and the corn fungus huitaloche sandal, "which tastes like the rubber-free fuck of a mushroom and a truffle--in a good way, of course."

// Blogs, Newsletters...etc. //

• Ed Levine checks out La Nacional. Imagine youself in a small town in Spain and taking your lunch break. You meet your friends for a leisurely meal of regional favorites and good conversation. Come back to the reality of being in hot NYC and now you're hungry. Where do you go? La Nacional. Read Ed's review on this find for the gustatorily adventurous.
• Insatiable Critic Gael Greene loves the soba at Matsugen. Also worth reading is her post on a recent trip to Paul Bocuse's flagship restaurant in Lyon.

// In Other News //

• Via Eater: The NY Post and Brooklyn Heights Blog report on credit card chicanery at Blue Pig, Oven and Wine bar, three Brooklyn Heights establishments run by Dan Kaufman. Kaufman allegedly took credit card receipts from two of the restaurants and charged them again at Busy Chef amassing another $25,000 in "sales" in the process. In the Fall 2007 Brooklyn Heights Association newsletter an article about Kaufman noted his "community spirit." He surrendered to police this morning.

// Upcoming Events //

Summer Restaurant Week is almost upon us. During the week of July 21st - 25th and the 28th to August 1st you can dine at Bar Boulud (lunch), Eleven Madison Park (lunch), En Japanese Brasserie (dinner), and Gramercy Tavern (lunch) for less than you might normally pay.