Robert Sietsema at Manzo in Eataly

By Chantal Martineau Wed., Oct. 13 2010 at 10:00 AM

This week in the Voice, Robert Sietsema finds the food thrilling, but the premises not so much at the beef temple that is Manzo in Eataly.

Sam Sifton slums it on the Lower East Side at Xiao Ye, which he deems "an artful misfire: the sort of place that, as [chef-owner Eddie] Huang sadly appears to desire it to be, is really only best when the customers are a little drunk, a little high, maybe both and in any event extremely hungry."
[NY Times]

Adam Platt files on both Vandaag, where chef Phillip Kirschen-Clark "has a penchant for madcap, slightly obsessive locavore experimentation," and Takashi, where he "never did try the Tongue Experience, although [he] enjoyed [his] encounters with the stomachs."
[NY Magazine]

Jay Cheshes is even more taken with Vandaag, where approves of how the chef "cooks food worth settling in for, departing from the comfort-food zeitgeist with offbeat accents added to just about every dish."
[TONY]

Ryan Sutton rounds up some of the city's best fried chicken joints, including Hill Country Chicken, Lowcountry, Peels, and Seersucker.
[Bloomberg]

Steve Cuozzo finds hits and misses at Lambs Club, noting chef Geoffrey Zakarian's "unforced way with global embellishments to frame and flatter main elements. At lunch, he's been at the top of his game... Evening meals were less consistent."
[NY Post]

Meanwhile, Gael Greene raves over the bread basket at Lambs Club, but finds the rest of the meal just OK: "And, sorry to report, dinner is somewhat uneven, good and good enough, less brilliant."
[Insatiable Critic]

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