Under Review: Sietsema at The Vanderbilt; DiGregorio on a Citywide Martini Crawl

This week in the Voice, Our Man Sietsema is Brooklyn-bound for The Vanderbilt, where "partners Saul Bolton and Ben Daitz pride themselves on their homemade sausages"; while Sarah DiGregorio bellies up to a couple different bars in search of the perfect martini.

Sam Sifton offers up a two-fer this week as he visits Jefferey Chodorow's Tanuki Tavern (one star, for its "sushi maki rolls of the sort you can find all over the East Village") and Ed's Chowder House (no stars, despite "chowders [that are] if not revelatory, at least fairly rich").
[NY Times]

Adam Platt goes uptown and upscale at Le Caprice, which is predictably "overrun by crowds of pink-faced, Champagne-swilling Englishmen."
[NY Magazine]

Jay Cheshes pays a visit to Tipsy Parson, where "the entrees are as homey as everything else, with portions that ensure you won't be pining for seconds."
[TONY]

Steve Cuozzo finds that, "while Casa Lever is anything but cutting-edge, it makes a strong case for what it is: a higher-end, well-oiled Fiat of a restaurant."
[NY Post]

Alan Richman also serves up a double this week, checking out the wine lists at l'Ecole, the restaurant in the French Culinary Institute ("highly curated... a list for curious drinkers") and Ardesia ("something for everybody... small with a big range of styles and tastes").
[GQ/Forked]

Gael Greene is "mesmerized by the audacity of Michael Huynh's feverish empire building," but finds OBao rather hit-and-miss.
[Insatiable Critic]

Tables for Two heads to Permanent Brunch, where "the food may or may not be worth the wait" (i.e., biscuits, yes; waffles, no).
[New Yorker]

Ryan Sutton rounds up the 10 best new restaurants of 2009, including Locanda Verde, The Brooklyn Star, and "the restaurant of the year:" Marea.
[Bloomberg]