The Other Critics

Redd’s Is Quirky, With Patient Staffers; Floating Rock Is a Spicy Delight

• Devra First two-stars Redd’s in Rozzie. Open letter to her notwithstanding, she has a pretty fine time at the Roslindale hideaway. “Impish” chef Charlie Redd assembles plates that are “quirky” and “eclectic,” if somewhat inconsistent. Go for the fried items (like “uncommonly light” hushpuppies), and feel free to misbehave a bit. “Crabby children and high-maintenance adults” are handled with grace. [Globe]

• Kerry Byrne stops in to Forum, the new Boston Nightlife Ventures playpen on Boylston. The vibe? “Big city chic.” [Herald]

• Robert Nadeau loves Central Square’s new Floating Rock: At the “most handsome Asian restaurant in these parts,” don’t miss fish cakes with a “provocative blend” of “chopped lime leaves, chilies, and galangal.” Tiger tear salad might “burn your socks off: even white rice is “real jasmine with a wonderful aroma.” [Phoenix]

• Fill Belly’s, a food-truck pioneer, has gone brick and mortar in Jamaica Plain. Cheapo options include cinnamon-scented waffles, blisteringly battered fried chicken, and “arterially challenging” mac-n-cheese. So what if the ambiance is “spare”? [Phoenix]

• MC Slim JB checks out Michael Leviton’s Kendall Square people-pleaser Area Four. Cafe by day and bustling restaurant by night, Area Four’s “extraordinary pie in the true Neapolitan tradition,” emerging from large wood-burning ovens, really shines. Slim also applauds the “terrific fresh breads” and commitment to “farm freshness.” [Stuff]

• The Improper previews Vito’s, the North End’s first sports bar. Sophisticates, fear not: “I don’t want people to think this is the kind of place to find a bunch of drunk, college a**holes,” owner Damien DiPaola tells the magazine. [Improper]

• Erin Byers Murray applauds the dietary respectability of Naked Pizza’s Superbiotic pie: Replete with “artichokes, mushrooms, red and yellow peppers, onions, and a few generous fist fulls of spinach,” it tempers the naughty joys of takeout with the virtuousness of health food. [Boston]

Redd’s Is Quirky, With Patient Staffers; Floating Rock Is a Spicy Delight