See what NYC's restaurant critics have been up to this week:

Robert Sietsema tries the Sichuan fare at Little Pepper: "The tiny chunks of light and dark meat lurk among bales of toasted red chiles, and for once, the peppers seem to have conferred their hotness on the poultry. Raw sesame seeds scatter on top like snow on a dormant volcano. The burn is prodigious."

Tejal Rao hits up La Vara and samples the Spanish fare there: "La Vara, which opened in late March, plays with the older, irresistible flavors established by Spain's forgotten cooks."

New York Magazine's Adam Platt also goes to La Vara and gives them two stars: "The tiny little Gibraltar chicken hearts turned out to be peppery and pleasingly tender on the evening my fellow travelers and I sampled them."

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Liz Barclay

The suckling pig at La Vara

This week's review is of La Vara, the new Spanish restaurant in Cobble Hill from chefs Alex Raij and Eder Montero, a husband-and-wife duo who take turns in the kitchen creating delicious, exciting food that's unlike most Spanish restaurants in the city.

The restaurant plays with flavors established by Spain's Jewish and Muslim communities during one of the darkest times in Spanish history, but it has a lot of fun doing so. Read the full review here.

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Liz Barclay

See what NYC's restaurant critics have been up to this week:

Robert Sietsema checks out Parish Hall in Williamsburg: "The dinner menu at Parish Hall boasts several interesting preparations--including a soft-boiled egg with ham crumbs in a smoked-parsnip slurry--but the eatery really comes into its eggy own at brunch."

Tejal Rao goes straight for dessert at Per Se: "The dessert tasting doubles as an affordable ticket into the city's science-fictional theater of money." The experience, including service, is $65.

New York Magazine's Adam Platt goes to NoMad and says the kitchen offers terrific food, but at crazy prices. Two stars for the restaurant: "With one or two exceptions, the main courses at NoMad are similarly accomplished, although none of them are cheap."

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Liz Barclay

The chocolate cheesecake at Per Se

It's tradition to basically ignore desserts in restaurant reviews, but this week, I wrote about the work of Per Se's pastry chef, Elwyn Boyles. I tasted his desserts for the first time in London, eight years ago, when he was the pastry chef at Tom Aikens. Boyles joined Per Se four years ago and now offers a $65 tasting menu in the restaurant's salon made entirely of pretty and precise sweets. Read the full review here.

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Liz Barclay

See what NYC's restaurant critics have been up to this week:

Tejal Rao makes her inaugural review in this week's Voice with a write-up of rustic Italian Perla on Minetta Lane: "Perla's long menu is divided traditionally--antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni--and if you're wearing your eatin' pants, you could certainly pick a dish from each section to create a proper Italian dinner," she says. New trending hashtag? #eatinpants

Pete Wells over at the New York Times pays a visit to La Silhouette and gives it one star: "And there was the duck sauce. Yes, it was a sauce that came with duck breast, but it was also reminiscent of the Chinese-takeout condiment."

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Liz Barclay

I review Perla this week, a charming new Italian restaurant in the West Village from restaurateur Gabriel Stulman, with chef Michael Toscano in the kitchen. Read the full review here.

I also got a tip on the best kind of eatin' pants:

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Liz Barclay

See what the city's restaurant critics have been up to this week:

In this week's Voice, Robert Sietsema tries the dim sum over at Genting Palace: "Odd for a Chinese restaurant, there's an outdoor terrace with tables that will presumably at some future point allow you to enjoy some of the city's best dim sum while watching the galloping ponies. Don't expect carts; ordering is done from a 33-item menu."

Over at the New York Times, Pete Wells checks out the Sichuan-fare at Cafe China and awards them two stars: "The restaurant works at a languorous, almost tropical tempo. This sometimes manifests itself in hazy service and puzzling waits for cold appetizers, but mostly it is a refreshing change from the usual staccato rhythms of Midtown Sichuan operations."

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Liz Barclay

At Benares

See what the city's restaurant critics have been up to this week:

In this week's Voice, Robert Sietsema samples the cuisine of Uttar Pradesh at Benares: "The best thing on the menu is a soup, paradoxically, because most people ignore soups entirely in Indian restaurants. Attukal paya ($8) is like something you'd normally find only in Pakistani steam-table joints, an unctuous potage featuring swatches of squishy goat foot flavored with a delicate mixture of spices."

Pete Wells awards two stars to Empellón Cocina: "At its best, Mr. Stupak's cooking at Empellón Cocina resembles the food of Mexico the way a dream resembles life."

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Liz Barclay

Florencia 13

In this week's Voice, Robert Sietsema tests out Cal-Mex specialties and margaritas at the Village's Florencia 13: "You should start your meal with a flaming margarita, though that flame is confined to a small slice of cucumber floating on top. It's indicative of a playful element in Mexican cuisine that might be missing in our own renditions, and perhaps the drink will transport you to a beachside shack in Malibu."

The New York Times' Pete Wells awards one star to Alison Eighteen, a "perfectly normal restaurant": "Behind that velvet curtain, Alison Eighteen can feel a bit like seeing a revival of an old play in out-of-town tryouts. The sets look great, but the dialogue can feel a bit strained, and the players need time to learn their lines. The audience looks indulgent, though."

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Zero Otto Nove under review

See what NYC's restaurant critics have been up to this week:

In the Voice, Robert Sietsema compares the Bronx and Flatiron locations of Zero Otto Nove: "With the exception of the pizzas -- which are not quite as perfect due to the use of less wood in the oven -- Manhattan proves it can furnish food every bit as great as that of the Bronx."

Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite give three stars to the Toucan and the Lion: "The beef, as it turned out, was fresh and juicy; the bacon and cashew butter winningly juxtaposed the salty with the sweet; and the toasted bao bun had us rethinking our allegiance to the similarly squishy supermarket variety."

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