The New York Times-20080127-Where Even Old Is New- -Review-

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Where Even Old Is New; [Review]

Full Text (395  words)[Author Affiliation] Compiled by Kris Ensminger E-mail: [email protected]

The SoHo restaurant scene has seen a lot of change in the past year, with worthy newcomers joining some restyled favorites.

BUN

(212) 431-7999; 143 Grand Street (Lafayette Street); $; Article: 1/2/08.

Bun is a new place from Michael Huynh, a chef and restaurateur who has had a hand in a number of popular Vietnamese spots in New York. Bun (pronounced BOON) is affordable and serves a menu of creative small plates, like boar blood sausage with pickled papaya, and Vietnamese classics, like filling bowls of pho, the beef noodle soup. About half the dishes incorporate bun (rice vermicelli), in salads, soups or summer rolls.

FIAMMA

(212) 653-0100; 206 Spring Street (Sullivan Street); $$$; Review: 11/28/07.

Fiamma has been around since 2002, but last year the owner, Stephen Hanson, hired Fabio Trabocchi of Maestro, a restaurant near Washington, where he was regarded as one of the area's most dazzling chefs. His menu includes lasagna with a ragu of veal sweetbreads, chicken livers and prosciutto.

PROVENCE

(212) 475-7500; 38 Macdougal Street (Prince Street); $$$; Review: 6/13/07.

Marc Meyer and Vicki Freeman, the restaurateurs behind Five Points and Cookshop, snapped up this romantic gem in the fall of 2006 when, after two decades, its original owner closed it. It opened last spring with a smartly calibrated bistro-plus menu. The ratio of hearty to lighter fare, of cassoulet to fish stew, is just right.

SHORTY'S .32

(212) 375-8275; 199 Prince Street (Macdougal Street); $$; Review: 12/26/07.

Shorty's .32 is the kind of restaurant, gentle and comforting, that you want to fall into at the end of a shivery winter day. The menu includes braised short ribs and a four-cheese macaroni that's a merry poke at the gut. For dessert you can have chocolate bread pudding, though the toasted pound cake with mixed berries is better.

TAILOR

(212) 334-5182; 525 Broome Street (Thompson Street); $$$; Review: 11/21/07.

Tailor is an ambitious restaurant, and an interesting one. And Sam Mason, who made his name as the pastry chef at WD-50, belongs to a group of brainy iconoclasts who are challenging the usual segregation of savory and sweet. His relatively concise menu includes peekytoe crab with pineapple foam; pork belly with miso-butterscotch; spice bread panna cotta; mango ravioli with black rice ice cream; and soft chocolate with sesame ice cream.

Compiled by Kris EnsmingerE-mail: [email protected]