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Manhattan Hotel Restaurants Not Living up to the Hype

Some big-name reviewers have recently stopped by a couple of big-time New York hotel restaurants, and all in all, they're not too impressed. But Gemma, at the Bowery Hotel is doing better than Wakiya at the Gramercy Park Hotel, it seems.

New York Times critic Frank Bruni thought, like we did, that the gnocchi were great:

Among the pasta dishes and main courses, there was plenty to savor. Soft, light gnocchi met a meaty Bolognese, while the rich, salty sauce of pork sausage, tomatoes and cream over one night's special of squiggly strozzapreti was superb.

Bruni didn't care too much for the slickness of the place, though, even though varnish and patina are central design elements. It's too stylish to be a real restaurant, he figures, though with Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson behind the project, what would he expect?

Wakiya, too, is a place more focused on the scene than the food, but that's not serving it well. Adam Platt of New York Magazine even felt fit to give it zero stars, and the eternally verbose Andrea Strong won't be going back, after getting terrible service.

Related Stories:
· Follow the Burrata to a Familiar Place [NYT]
· Not So Fine China [NYM]
· Wakiya Review [The Strong Buzz]

[Photo: Evan Sung for The New York Times]