Critic Roundup: Alan Richman Digs Montreal's Casual Side

This week in restaurant news, Pete Wells lamented the fall of the small plate at New York's Telepan Local, writing that the new Telepan outpost "offers most of the drawbacks of small-plates eating and almost none of the advantages."

New Village Voice food critic Zachary Feldman kept it ultra-casual at Empire Diner in Chelsea, where he found former Harrison executive chef and Chopped judge Amanda Freitag's greasy spoon. Feldman offered mixed marks, writing the cuisine was "earnest in its interpretations of comfort food," but found that "the culinary fireworks dissipate between menu description and execution."

Alan Richman travelled to Montreal for GQ to sample the cuisine of two newer casual spots, Maison Publique and Vin Papillon. Richman raved about the cuisine at Maison Publique, writing that a serving of boudin — a Canadian breakfast sausage — was "possibly the best boudin ever made, a square of ruthless richness containing pork fat, pork tongue, oats, black pepper, mace, and blood. At Vin Papillon, Wells enjoyed both the cuisine and the ambiance, writing "The food is extremely well-thought-out, and the customers are serious eaters."

Elsewhere, Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Gate sampled Ichi Sushi + Ni Bar in the Mission, where he found that every bite of chef Tim Archuleta's sushi and Japanese cuisine to be "self-contained and seasoned to bring out the best in the fish."

Restaurant Critic Roundup: 4/23/2014

Critic	Publication	Restaurant	Rating
Gael Greene	Insatiable Critic	Bar Bolonat	Positive
Pete Wells	The New York Times	Telepan Local	1/4 Stars
Stan Sagner	NY Daily News	Gato	4/5 Stars
Alan Richman	GQ	Maison Publique and Vin Papillon	Positive
Michael Bauer	San Francisco Gate	Ichi Sushi + Ni Bar	2.5/4 Stars
Zachary Feldman	The Village Voice	Empire Diner	Mixed
Scott Reitz	Dallas Observer	Gemma	Positive

Adam D'Arpino is the Restaurants Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDArpino.