Corby Kummer Takes on The Blue Room's New Chef

Corby Kummer reviews The Blue Room for Boston Magazine, paying special attention to how things have changed since chef Robert Grant took the helm. There are dishes that "played to Grant’s strengths," especially appetizers like duck leg confit with lentils and pickled beets, though cotechino is "so salty that I wondered if it was a mistake" and pork shoulder is "a salty chore." The beans in a vegetable cassoulet are undercooked and "a lot of work surely went into creating what tasted like a commercial, if underbaked, potpie." Desserts fared better, and Kummer's overall verdict is that the chef "needs time to focus and tighten his main courses." [BM]

B.N. Lee reviews Casa B in Union Square for The Improper Bostonian and does little to hurt this new darling's reputation. In fact, Lee gives it the full four star treatment. The atmosphere is like a "technicolor movie" and a ceviche sampler is "a study in subtle differences elicited by texture, acidity and sweetness." The experience is innovative from start to finish: chicken hearts in a sauce made with Licor 43 have "a sweet vanilla taste" and the meal is capped off with a coffee and orange liqueur that is house-distilled. [TIB]

MC Slim JB reviews the new Nigerian restaurant Suya Joint in Roslindale for STUFF. More than anything Slim rejoices in the diversity that Suya Joint brings to the local dining scene, which is "anemic when it comes to Africa." Goat pepper stew has "broth rich with the flavor of long-cooked bones and a citrusy undercurrent" and fufu sounds like a hoot: "Pull a chunk off this steaming softball with your fingers, shape it into an indented disk, and use it as an edible spoon." Slim stresses that the food is exotic yet accessible, besides the occasional dish like a stew with smoked fish: "the gluey texture added by ground African mango seeds is not for everyone." [STUFF]

Robert Nadeau reviews The Cottage in Chestnut Hill for the Phoenix, giving the restaurant a solitary star. Nadeau begins by reading the reader's mind, asking "So what makes a one-star restaurant?" Plenty. For starters, The Cottage "is relatively expensive for rather bland food." Artichoke fritters are "almost entirely tempura batter" and the short rib eggroll is "a bad idea... pushed over the top by adding barbecue sauce, whipped potato, and cheese." However wild rice risotto and mahi tacos succeed.

Heather Vandenengel reviews "the Goliath of beer bars" that is the Yard House for DigBoston's Honest Pint column. "Is bigger better?" she asks of the Fenway restaurant and bar. "Not really," she concludes. Prices are unlisted and despite bragging rights for having a big list, "the majority of it is middle of the road beers that are widely available." However all of the beers tastes "clean and fresh" and the patio is "gorgeous." [DB]