This week in reviews...

Tom Sietsema leads off this week with his review of Willow which he gave 2 stars. I personally like the sound of the desserts in his review:

Jansen arranges apples in a fine tart shell, gilding the treat with caramel sauce; she partners a port-glazed pear with pastry made with ground walnuts and topped with a layer of blue cheese -- the sweet and savory flavors duel for attention in your mouth. Creamy pumpkin mousse cake gets a nice lift from cranberry jam. And the pastry chef's cookie plate finds a hit parade of flavors accompanied by something better even than a cold glass of milk: buttered almond ice cream.

I like any dessert with pear in it!

Scott Haring of The Times reviews Italian Market and Restaurant in....Gambrills, Md?? Moving on...

My friend Alex MacClennan writes about his favorite meals of the year for the Hill Rag including 2 Amys, Komi, and Hanks Oyster Bar. I really need to try Hanks! Alex, if you're reading this, shoot me an email. We never did get dinner...

Mary Hager, food critic for the DC Examiner, writes about Thai Square stating,

Somehow this small gem of a restaurant has managed to avoid the Westernizing pitfall that snares so many ethnic restaurants, so the food remains true to its Thai roots.

I've actually been to Thai Square and wasn't extremely impressed, but they could've been having an off night when I was there.

The City Paper continues to rotate their food writers since Todd Kliman left. This week, Brent Garland writes about Extra Virgin saying, "When Extra Virgin hits its mark, the results are astonishingly good." However, he gives the wait staff a couple strikes. "In addition, the staff, while well-intentioned, is sometimes lacking in knowledge. he waiter who brought me a very good cheese plate for dessert one night could not identify a single cheese of the four, including the most obvious one, a deliciously salty pecorino pepato." Sounds like it's a little hit or miss from his review - order at your own risk.

In the blog world, Matt Singerman writes about his trip to Vegetate's Sunday brunch which left him wanting. Oxymoron of the year...vegan Caesar dressing.

Last but not least, Amanda at Metrocurean gives her first impressions of Rasika, who stole Sebastian Zutant from Komi. All I can say is I'm depressed that Sebastian isn't at Komi anymore -- it won't be the same without him. But, I look forward to finally eating at an Indian restaurant that knows how to pair wine.