Pennsylvania6

Swanky spot in the shadows of Jack's and Penn Station. A bar cum restaurant that has twenty beers on tap and a fine menu to boot. There are booths and banquettes and lots of afterwork commuters swinging by for an apres work cocktail. I went for chow and enjoyed the fixin's. I sat at the bar where the large overhead screen played soccer. I went with the soup and a sandwich is a clever take-off of French onion soup wit a grilled cheese baguette on top. For $9 this was a tasty value- hearty soup with gruyere topped baguette. Also, mega tasty is the corn souffle($8), a dish of cheese corn with some poblanos for zing. A comforting meal- at Pennsylvania6 and happy to have fine eating in a part of the 'hood bereft of decent eating establishments. GO!

L'Apicio

Sleek and sexy spot off Extra Place- "the little foodie street". The restaurant impresses visually, with a large open wine closet off the main dining room. Service here is attentive and professional. The bread with plain oil is a yawner as nothing distinguishes it from any other upscale Italian. Many good menu choices abound and I went with arrancini, calamarata pasta, brussel sprouts with pancetta and a dessert of chocolate cake with fresh stracciatella ice-cream and caramel. Total bill was about $52 with tip- no drink. The arranci with fontina were tasty though not dark and a little olive oily like my palate prefers. Pizza Roma on Bleeker has a good one. The best part of the savory was the brussel sprouts- fried, lemony, bacony, delish. The calamarata- with calamari sauce and round squid shaped pasta did not blow my mind. The molten chocolate cake did though with house made ice-cream, macerated cherries and a lovely crust- this was a winning dessert. A good spot for a girls night out or a date to impress. GO!

Fletcher's Barbecue

Barbecue was beckoning on Sunday in lieu of brunch. Fletchers is one of the new New York barbecue joints creating a second barbecue renaissance. Beginning with Hill Country and before that Blue Smoke, barbecue is enjoying new blood- no pun intended. Fletchers teams up a former advertising guy with a Rub veteran. The restaurant is situated in the ever growing Gowanus food strip next to Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Shop. The result is a melange of 'cue styles all quite flavorfully smoked. I went with 5 wings for $5 which were a close second to Hill Country's mega flavored chicken. The bean menage a trois was smoky with bacon at $4. The cole slaw- uber crunchy and also a reasonable $4. Most sides are $4 which is $2 cheaper than Hill Country. The mac & cheese with cheese sauce poured over it to order was pedestrian. The open seating feels spacious. Only gripe was the house barbecue tasty like a denser, darker duck sauce and none too complex. If the sauces were amped up it would be a definite........ MUST GO!

Maysville

Monstrously flavored food from the Char4 folks on the edge of the Flatiron. They are known for their large and varied selection of bourbons, but they have interesting beers and wines as well. Lunchtime fills up slowly and the food rocked out. A Full Sail Amber was a nice balance to the smoky sandwich ordered. I went with the pulled pork with fried kale on a dark ciabatta roll. This came with whiskey pickles and housemade bbq potato chips($14). The smoky slightly spicy pulled pork with the fried kale was mouth awakening. The whiskey pickles were pickled root veggies and the good chips made for a great meal. To top it off, I ordered the bread pudding with cherry bourbon vanilla ice-cream($9). The surprise was a smudge of chocolate and candied pecans. Simply DIVINE! MUST GO!

Rock Center Cafe

Oh the view, is magnificent at night. This pricey cum touristy locale is worth the price for restaurant week-$38 at dinner. You can sit nearly on the rink here and enjoy the view and oh the food. The bread basket has a nice parker roll and lentil dip. Loved the cauliflower soup with rye croutons and bacon- this was a superior soup. The pork loin with sweet mashed and brussel sprouts was tasty. The apple pie with salted caramel was big and sugary sweet. There was some discussion about if I could have any dessert on the regular dessert menu- any one, but the layer cake with dulce de leche. I would return for restaurant week otherwise a special spot for visitors at night of course. SLOW GO!