Uno Estrella para Manzanilla

[sasha maslov for the nytimes] garciaDani Garcia earned his first Michelin star in 2000 while cooking at Tragabuches in Ronda, Spain. In 2005, he opened Calima in his native city of Marbella and won Best Chef of the Year in Spain that year. Two months ago, two years shy of his 40th birthday, Garcia introduced New Yorkers to his modern Spanish fare at Manzanilla (also a variety of sherry) on East 26th Street.

Wylie Dufresne, New York's godfather of modern cuisine, was sitting at Manzanilla's bar on a night Pete Wells visited. "Apart from some terrific, how-did-he-do-it desserts," Wells writes in his review of the restaurant today, "[Manzanilla] does not show off the kinds of techniques that might intrigue Mr. Dufresne," who has dazzled New York for ten years with WD-50, and now does so at his newly opened Second Avenue atelier Alder.

"At its best, which is about half the time, Manzanilla offers some very welcome takes on Spanish tradition," writes Wells. The critic cites six reasons for "taking a seat at the bar, or a table." They are: tortillita gaditana, cuttlefish croquettes, tomato tartare, black rice and wild mushroom and vegetable rice (both bomba rice-based entrees), and the Iberico pork, which Wells explains is "given a Japanese marinade of sake, mirin and miso."

"All of these are exceptional additions to the growing catalog of great Spanish tastes in New York," the critic says. "But Manzanilla had nearly as many dishes that were not in the same league." Wells gives the newcomer one star. [NYTimes]

Lafayette is Open

[photo: digestny] the manAndrew Carmellini, Josh Pickard, and Luke Ostrom's highly-anticipated French restaurant Lafayette opens for dinner tonight. We started covering the restaurant's progress on June 20th last year. Only back then, we had no idea it was going to be called Lafayette. Or that the menu would offer such an extensive array of French cuisine. You can get a glimpse of the menu here (courtesy of Eater). Classic bistro dishes like beef tartare and steak frites are joined with dishes inspired by the cuisine of France's neighbors: Italy and Spain. There's pasta on the menu, a result of Italy's pasta-making traditions crossing the Pennine Alps and making their way into Southern France. Black linguine with seafood and chorizo combines this influence with the combination of seafood and chorizo that's common throughout Spain. The restaurant's rotisserie lends itself to dishes like wood-fired Dorade and roast chicken for two. On his inspiration for the menu, Carmellini said, "It's food I want to eat everyday."

The cafe and bakery opens at noon to serve coffe and pastries, but dinner service launches tonight at 5:30 p.m. Breakfast, lunch, and brunch coming soon. We got in for a coffee and pictures this morning. Take a look after the jump.

380 Lafayette Street | 212-533-3000 | www | map

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Eat the Week; April 8th - April 12th

Franny's opens at new location: 348 Flatbush | Awnings go up at Lafayette and menus get released online (Opening Monday!) | Pete Wells kicks off Critic on the Road in Houston, no stars, but favorably writes up Oxheart and Underbelly | Fatty 'Cue reopens in Williamsburg after 16 months of renovations | Donde Dinner? - 116 Lexington Avenue

Donde Dinner? - 116 Lexington Avenue

Donde Dinner? wants to make your next dining experience an adventure. So, every Friday, we pick a restaurant and post its address for you. The catch is, that's all the information you get. No name, no type of cuisine, and no Googling. But first, here's last week's address:

5 Bleecker Street = Bianca

This week's restaurant follows typical Donde Dinner? fashion. Price, quality, and accessibility have all been taken into account. You won't be waiting at the bar for two hours with $15 cocktails and you never have to worry about a dress code. Just hop on the train, or your feet, or your bike, and head to:

116 Lexington Avenue (map)

Fatty 'Cue Round Two

Zak Pelaccio's fusion-barbecue was an instant hit when Fatty 'Cue opened in Williamsburg. But not long into the restaurant's run, the back room closed for renovations. It left the small, front barroom to accommodate the droves that sought Pelaccio's cue. Then, in January 2012, the restaurant closed completely to undergo renovations. Those were originally scheduled to take two months, but lasted almost a year and a half. On Tuesday night, though, Williamsburg got its Fatty 'Cue back. The restaurant reopened Tuesday with a new design, new menu by Momofuku Noodle Bar alum Anthony Masters, and cocktails by Death & Co.'s Phil Ward.

The Fatty Crew was busy elsewhere during the Fatty 'Cue renovations. In the last year, the team partnered with Top Chef alum Leah Cohen to open Pig & Khao on the Lower East Side (Pete Wells gave the restaurant two bright stars in March). The crew opened a Fatty 'Cue outpost in Barclays Center, and Rick Camac, a partner in Fatty Crew, established Fatty Crew Hospitality Group, which is going global and has a Hong Kong satellite in the works.

Houston, We Have a New York Times Restaurant Review

[photos: michael stravato for the nytimes] clockwise from top left: oxheart, justin yu, underbelly, chris shepherdPete Wells files on two restaurants in Houston, Texas this week in Oxheart and Underbelly, and it looks like we can expect more cross-country reviews from the Times critic. "[Oxheart] is also an example of the growing ambition of the Houston dining scene, and one of two places that lured me here to kick off this occasional series of reviews of restaurants outside New York City." At Oxheart, Justin Yu serves three menus on a nightly basis. Two are four courses ($49), one is seven ($79). But each highlights much of what Yu learned in Northern European kitchens, "he creates plates that take their visual cues from the colors and shapes of nature," Wells writes.

"Some things about Oxheart reminded me of other new restaurants that emphasize the personal and the handmade. The naturalistic look of Mr. Yu’s dishes, too, is familiar. But every course of my meal," Wells continues, "showed an instinct for the delicious that is rare in any city."

A few miles to the southwest of Oxheart on Westheimer Road is Underbelly. There, Wells explains, chef/owner Chris Shepherd tells "a story of many cultures and cuisines meeting in a place that has become the most ethnically diverse metropolitan region in the United States." For one dish, "Mr. Shepherd tosses chewy rice cakes with butter and gojuchang, the Korean chile paste," Wells explains, "which together make something like what you would get if you fermented Buffalo wing sauce and aged it in a barrel."

The star-system isn't in place for the new "Critic on the Road" series, but Wells is a clearly a big fan of both Oxheart and Underbelly. He writes that the restaurants "share Houston, the city that they are both helping to make into one of the country’s most exciting places to eat." [NYTimes]

Oh Mon Dieu: Awnings and Menus at Lafayette

Lafayette is the most anticipated opening of the year so far. Awnings are in place now and, early next week, owners Andrew Carmellini, Luke Ostrom, and Josh Pickard will open the doors to their Noho masterpiece. To hold us over, Grub Street got ahold of the food, drink, and dessert menus.

Lafayette has a great list of apéritifs, ranging from $9 to $16, a la Pernod Absinthe, Bonal, Byrrh, Floc de Gascogne, and Camut Pommeau de Normandie. Beers start at $7 with Belgian and domestic options making up most of the selections, and the wine-by-the-glass list hits France's big wine regions: Loire, Alsace, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Rhone, and Bordeaux. There's a focus therein on country-style wines from smaller producers, and pours start at $9 and go up to $22. Some of the food includes asparagus, orange, mimosa, oysters, beef tartare, and bouillabaisse for two. Most desserts are $10 each, cookies du jour are $8, and for $19 there's an apple tart for two. We'll see you there. [GS]

Finalmente Franny's: New Location Opens Tonight

After months of construction, the new, long-awaited, stronger-faster-bigger-better location of Franny's is opening tonight at 5:30pm. The new space, at 348 Flatbush, has two ovens, a private dining room, takes reservations for 6 or more, and offers delivery. For now, pizzas are the only thing to go, but more of the menu will be available as the restaurant gets settled.

The new location is also open for lunch Friday through Sunday; from noon to 11:30pm Friday and Saturday, and noon to 11 pm on Sunday. Dinner hours Monday through Thursday are 5:30 pm to 11 pm. No menu on their website yet, but we'll be there soon to find out and get back to you. If you make it there before us, let us know how it is!

348 Flatbush Avenue | 718-230-0221 | www | map