BROOKLYN, NEW YORK—On Wednesday night, Bill Clinton stood onstage not five feet away from a large saxophone for close to 40 minutes without touching it or even looking in its direction once.
• This week's reviews: Pete Wells of the Times slaps Michael Psilakis' Gus & Gabriel Gastropub with a zero-star review today ("The problem is that it fails to achieve even its low aims"); The New Yorker's Leo Carey comes to an entirely different conclusion; Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton hits Williamsburg to pay a visit to Brooklyn Bowl (with food by Blue Ribbon) and the Brooklyn Star; TONY's Jay Cheshes gives a "generic" Civetta two stars out of five; and NY's Adam Platt finds that "most things deliver" on Dan Silverman's menu at the Standard Grill.
• The Post's Steve Cuozzo is sick and tired of "menu sprawl," the practice of giving diners 478 things to choose from. Steve likes to keep it simple. [NYP]
• A Q&A with Andrew Carmellini, chef and co-owner of Locanda Verde. [RG]
• NYC International Pickle Day is October 4th! Mark your calendar. [GS]
• Renee Zellweger and Jon Bon Jovi co-own a Mexican restaurant (East Hampton's Blue Parrot). With Jen Aniston now saying she would like to open a Mexican spot in Manhattan, that makes three, so it's officially a trend. [Eater]
• Yesterday's Post piece on restaurants charging for things like water and bread and butter provoked a wee bit of controversy. Frank Bruni thinks more restaurants should be charging for bread. And Bobo's Carlos Suarez would like you to know the water fee goes to charity, so simmer down. [NYT, GS]
• Sasha Petraske's Dutch Kills may open as soon as this Friday. [UD]
• The Beatrice Inn (which is still closed, FYI) has been vandalized. [Eater]
• The latest secret bar you'll hear a lot about, but will probably never visit in person: Bohemian, which requires a swipe key to get in, and is "tucked into the back of a building that used to belong to Andy Warhol," if that's any help. [GS]
