Restaurant review extravaganza 59

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

Broward-Palm Beach

The Office

The place settings at the Office in Delray Beach are littered with profound — or is that profoundly unprofound? — quotes about food printed on them. One line in particular caught my attention: “Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.” More >>

Dallas

Dallas Chop House

Since the age of the Cro-Magnon, Dallas has had the hell whomped out of it by all manner of steakhouses serving all manner of wet-aged, prime, wagyu, Angus, choice, dry-aged, and just plain horseshit beef. But we’ve never had a wet red meat romp quite like Dallas Chop House. DCH is a $3 million, 5,700-square-foot design-intensive beef sanctum on the ground floor of the Comerica Building, a modern take on the classic barrel vault element as interpreted by famed architect Philip Johnson. More >>

Sara Kerens

“Just when you thought a high-end steakhouse is a steakhouse is a steakhouse, along comes Dallas Chop House.”

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Houston

Luigi’s Pizzeria

When I walked into Luigi’s Pizzeria with some friends, I knew what I wanted for lunch before I even looked at the chalkboard menu on the wall: a large meat pizza and a basket of jumbo chicken wings. I planned on sitting on the patio by the bocce ball court and enjoying the afternoon by stuffing my face with Luigi’s old-school, thin-crust pizza. The wings were an uncanny bright-red color that looked like Frank’s hot sauce. You can order them spicy, honey barbecue or Italian — we’d gone for the spicy. I devoured a couple before our pizza showed up, dipping them in the blue cheese dressing that came on the side. Classic. More >>

Kansas City

Sakura Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar

It’s important never to judge a restaurant — particularly a new restaurant — on a first impression. Why? One reason is that the experience one night can be completely different a few nights later. That was definitely the case at the expensively mounted Sakura Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar in Lee’s Summit. More >>

Los Angeles

Forage

Sunset Boulevard, as it swings east from Sunset Junction, may be the most evolved shopping area in Los Angeles, a magical few blocks of both vintage clothing and neovintage clothing, the best in both third-wave coffee beans and second-wave coffee beans, funky kicks and kids’ shoes, absinthe accessories and fine wine, a conservatory of music, a well-stocked cheese shop and the best-curated comic book store in town. Many of the stores and cafés have gleaming water bowls set outside them on the sidewalk, a public service for dogs. The new spice store, hidden behind a fountain at the back of a courtyard, displays rare salts and custom curry blends as if they were exquisite jewels. More >>

Miami

Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill

A tsunami of near unanimous praise has catapulted Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill to the top of Miami’s dining scene at breakneck speed. No doubt the immediate impact reflects today’s quickened pace of social networking — word-of-text/tweet reaches eyes infinitely faster than word-of-mouth could ever reach ears. Yet even in the days of The Pony Express, any establishment with as much going for it as Sugarcane would eventually be known far and wide. More >>

Minneapolis

The Perennial Plate

The average 26-year-old New Yorker might get what for his birthday? A shirt and tie from mom? Tickets to the Mets game from his sweetie? A few six-packs of Brooklyn Lager from his pals? When Daniel Klein recently reached that milestone, his cousin bestowed on him a gift reserved for only the most adventurous of foodies: a live, squealing pig. More >>

Kate Sommers

Fresh eggs in broth

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New York

Faustina

Almost a decade ago, I spotted chef Scott Conant in the newly opened Italian Wine Merchants on Union Square. At 29, and still somewhat wet behind the ears despite stints in what seemed like half the Italian kitchens in town, Conant was eagerly trying to persuade wine store partners and hugely successful restaurateurs Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich to visit City Eatery, his first gig as an executive chef. Whether they indulged him or not I never found out, but 10 years later, Scott Conant has become the new Mario Batali. More >>

Phoenix

Ocean Prime

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Grandma Laudig’s wisdom has always held up well, except when it comes to reviewing restaurants.

I’m talking about those places I really don’t care to set foot in again, but still I go back in the name of journalism. Every revisit starts off hopeful, as if a restaurant might redeem itself — sometimes, that does happen. But when it turns out that my initial gut instinct was right, the voluntary déjà vu is excruciating. More >>

Jackie Mercandetti

“Ocean Prime is sure to give seafood lovers a sinking feeling.”

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St. Louis

Guido’s Pizzeria & Tapas

My wife and I bought our first house last month. I won’t bore you with a discussion of what a personal milestone this is. But there are practical implications: Our kitchen isn’t fully operational yet, and as of this writing it has been three weeks since our last home-cooked meal. More >>