Restaurant review extravaganza 57

Here are some of this week’s most noteworthy restaurant reviews from across the country:

Broward-Palm Beach

Le Patio

We watched Veronique Leroux put together lunch from our table in the rear garden at Le Patio in Wilton Manors. There were no other people eating outside besides my partner and me, so Leroux had propped the back door open to give us a view inside the petite restaurant, no larger than an ordinary hallway. More >>

Dallas

Ocean Prime

On a day when you’re feeling all up in your fine self, when your wrinkle-fillers have smoothed out the frown lines and your good car is out of the shop, that’s the day to go to Ocean Prime. Because any other day? You’re going to feel way out of place in this jernt. More >>

Sara Kerens

“The see-and-be-seen crowd gathers at Ocean Prime, though you’d think they’d prefer better-tasting fish.”

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Houston

Jeannine’s Bistro

When Cafe Montrose split up, one party, Catherine Duwez, went to The Broken Spoke on Washington, and the other party, Jeannine Pettas, opened up Jeannine’s Bistro. Having recently reviewed Broken Spoke [“Mussel Mania” November 26, 2009], I decided to give Jeannine’s a shot. Because Cafe Montrose had a semi-cult following, naturally people are going to choose sides. Although the menu appears to be identical, the differences are bigger than the mussels they steam. More >>

Kansas City

Cheddar’s Casual Cafe

Last year, a friend of mine returned from a trip to Joplin singing the praises of a restaurant chain that I’d never heard of: Cheddar’s Casual Café. “The food was really good,” he said, “and so inexpensive. Most of the dinner entrées cost less than 10 bucks.” More >>

Los Angeles

Marché

Ventura Boulevard, as it passes through Studio City and Sherman Oaks, may have the highest concentration of restaurants in L.A., block after block of eateries where you can relax over pasta, baba ghanoush or a $13 hamburger with sautéed mushrooms. More >>

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Miami

El Scorpion Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar

Jeffrey Chodorow’s China Grill Management restaurants, from Blue Door and Asia de Cuba to the namesake venue, are well known in these parts for providing brashly conceptualized plates of food in grand settings. Chodorow is part of a group that recently opened El Scorpion Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar, but this venture is mostly in the hands of his partner, son Zach. The result is less glam than papa’s properties, yet Scorpion’s focus on providing fun with the fare indicates the avocado hasn’t fallen far from the tree. More >>