This week's restaurant reviews

"In a nutshell, eat at Almond," Peter Gianotti writes in today's Newsday. He gives the Bridgehampton spot three stars, praising the house-smoked bluefish, above, along with scallop-and-fennel crudo, pan-roasted Montauk striped bass and chive gnocchi, among other dishes.

For this week's Cheap Eats column, Joan Reminick visits Carcara Mexican Grill, a new restaurant in Farmingdale. She gives the restaurant two-and-a-half stars for dishes including the tamale, whose "fluffy bundle of shredded chicken, fresh corn and masa all wrapped in a corn husk and sauced with a rich, nuanced mole" tells her she's at a serious Mexican restaurant.