Bar Bolonat I think about it a lot, lacquered to a  crackle, nested in crisped rice and potatoes in a black iron pan and accessorized with pomegranate caramelized walnuts on top. A few sprigs of green complete the Technicolor effect. The second time there was a tad less socarrat to scrape up. Never mind, if anyone at my table hesitates, I'll swoop in and finish it off.

       But it's the chef's whole, plump roasted bird, carved in the dining room, rich and succulent, that I celebrate. It used to be served oozing juice onto fat French fries below, with a salad of butter lettuce on top, touched with a mustardy vinaigrette. I loved it that way, but apparently timid regulars found that confusing. So now the fries come alongside, salty and crisper. The salad can be delivered before, with or after. It might be best to order in advance, certainly as soon as you arrive -- it takes a while to roast the whole bird. Sure, you can order a half, too.

        I quickly developed a crush on The Writing Room once I realized it wasn't really about Elaine Kaufman, but was more about the rotisserie chicken  with roasted vegetables. Not everything on the menu of pop favorites is equally winning. But I'm back again and again, trying to persuade my friends to join me in a whole bird, hoping they will favor the breast meat so I can dominate the dark. This is no shy poussin. It's a well-raised grown-up, easily big enough for four. I also recommend the fried chicken with an old-fashioned biscuit, but not the too-vinegary coleslaw. It would be derelict not to note that my favorite dessert is the trio of chocolate-covered creamsicles escorted by a melting brownie.

       It's enough to say that when you and your friends have sampled your fill of Chef-Partner Joe Ng's brilliant dim sum at the Upper West Side Red Farm, there is one perfect finale: his dazzling vision of that Cantonese banquet dish, shrimp stuffed chicken. The bird's skin has been dried and woked to a thick crunch, layered with sensuous shrimp paste and cobbled with bits of  dried and fried rice. String beans, broccoli rabe or sugar snaps will come alongside for the color, of course, and to satisfy your mom who wants you to eat your vegetables  

  

       After some years of wandering, Jonathan Waxman has settled at Barbuto in front of the big brick oven where he channels his affection for Italian simplicity. His fans crowd this abandoned Village garage with its concrete floors and walls that roll up, weather permitting. Start, as I do, with a salad, or share a pasta. Then attack the chef's crisp-crusted signature bird, still just $19. There's nothing more on the plate than his lemony salsa verde: rough chopped parsley, basil, arugula and mint with a hit of garlic and bits of hot pepper in an olive oil emulsion. The chicken is pretty much the same when he's not there, but watching him move lazily in front of the fire adds to the gravitas of this iconic plate.

       I like the period French look at Rotisserie Georgette -- the Portuguese tiles framing the mostly-open kitchen, the dark wood armoire, the palatial drapes, the flea market tapestry and the eccentric collection of mirrors. And though it took a while for the kitchen to hit its stride, three of us recently savored her $72 Poule de Luxe for two with potatoes soaked in its drippings.

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Desperately in Need of the Sensuous Bagel 

       In their wildest dreams I can't imagine Noah Bernamoff from Mile End and Matt Kleigman of The Smile saw the fiercely maniacal and mounting demand last week that forced them to close their new shop at 170 Elizabeth Street (between Spring and Kenmare) Monday for 24 hours.
 
       As the first dented, hand-rolled, fermented bagels tumbled out of the wood-burning oven after a boiling in honey-touched water, on Wednesday, Bernamoff described the philosophy: "The bagel's shape is original, the size is reasonable and the seeding is substantial." The shop also makes its own cream cheese and uses it to mix smoked fish and vegetables spreads.
 
       I persuaded the press agent to send me a sample. It arrived after I'd already left the office. On Thursday I took a bite of the ever-so-slightly stale round. And loved it. Toasted, it was thrilling last night piled with creamy goat cheese on one half and tuna salad on the other. I wouldn't mind if they were smaller but they do put the mini bagels I've been eating to shame.
 
       Black Seed has signed up to put a floating kiosk in Hudson Eats, the dining terrace at Brookfield Place opening May 6th. They'll be selling sandwiches, salads and beverages there too just as they do on Elizabeth Street. I can only hope they'll plant a seed in my neighborhood soon.