Pete Wells Gives the East Village's Calliope One Star

By James Mulcahy

This week, NY Times critic Pete Wells headed to the East Village for a visit to Calliope, a new restaurant in the space the used to house neighborhood gem Belcourt. Wells is taken with the bistro fare in the space, which he says goes beyond other spots with similar menus (which he suggests can be lazy with their reliance on dishes like steak frites). Though he takes issue with a few things, like the noise, he thinks the spot is generally a winner. Here he ruminates about the steak and sums up the charms of the joint: "The beef isn’t French, but the spirit is, and with bistro cuisine the spirit is what matters." Read the full review here.