Headliner
TESSA
Well-designed, chef-driven restaurants are multiplying on the West Side north of Lincoln Center, making places like Dovetail and Ouest less of an exception. Tessa offers a menu by the executive chef Cedric Tovar that may make it a destination. Consider grilled rouget, razor clam escabeche, venison carpaccio, cavatelli with rabbit and ramps, duck breast sharing the plate with duck lasagna, and a côte de boeuf for two. “My approach is mostly Mediterranean,” Mr. Tovar said. And there are enough herbs, olives and sauces like romesco to prove it. The brick-walled space is defined by the clever use of iron security gate material throughout, including on the ceiling. There is a ground-level bar area and a 75-seat dining room up a few steps. (Opens Thursday): 349 Amsterdam Avenue (77th Street), 212-390-1974, tessanyc.com.
Opening
ALFREDO 100 Alfredo di Lelio started dishing his namesake fettuccine in Rome 100 years ago. A New York branch of the restaurant, owned by Russell Bellanca, has moved from Rockefeller Center to the former Bice space and added “100” to the name. The fairly classic Italian menu has riffs on fettuccine Alfredo in a number of dishes, including arancini. Some of the walls are decorated with murals by Al Hirschfeld: 7 East 54th Street, 212-688-1999, alfredo100.com.
CHALK POINT KITCHEN The restaurateur Matt Levine, who owned Sons of Essex, had this place done farmhouse-style with an open kitchen and potted herbs. The chef Joe Isidori is preparing seasonal dishes relying on the same network of Long Island farmers and fishermen he turned to when he was at South Fork Kitchen in Bridgehampton, N.Y. The restaurant’s name refers to a part of Lower Manhattan that the Dutch called Chalk Point. There is also a clubby lower-level piano lounge, the Handy Liquor Bar. (Wednesday): 527 Broome Street (Thompson Street), 212-390-0327, facebook.com/ChalkPointNYC.
DARUMA-YA A Japanese-Italian mash-up called Greenwich Grill has given way to an all-Japanese place, retaining the lower-level sushi bar but adding an izakaya dining room with small plates and several soba specialties created by Shuichi Kotani, the chef who makes his own noodles. (Monday): 428 Greenwich Street (Laight Street), 212-274-0428, darumaya-nyc.com.
PAT LAFRIEDA’S SIGNATURE MEATBALL SLIDERS Nothing could be more fitting than sliders at the ballpark. You get three topped with whipped ricotta for $12: Citi Field, field level at Section 139, no phone, mets.com.
TAVERN ON THE GREEN The Central Park restaurant, which has been undergoing renovations the last two years, will open its doors April 24 and is accepting dinner reservations. It will have three dining rooms with seating for 400: the Bar Room and lounge, the Central Park Room in part of the area that was once the Crystal Room, and the South Wing, all with the same à la carte menu. The lounge will be first come first served: 67th Street and Central Park West, 212-877-8684, tavernonthegreen.com.
Looking Ahead
KINGSLEY The chef Roxanne Spruance plans to open this restaurant in the fall, and is serving preview dinners on Mondays in April at Le Restaurant in All Good Things, $75 for six courses: 102 Franklin Street (Church Street), allgoodthingsny.com.
Chefs on the Move
AARON BLUDORN, the chef de cuisine at Cafe Boulud, will become the executive chef in June, replacing Gavin Kaysen, who is moving to Minneapolis to open Merchant, his own restaurant.
SYLVAIN DELPIQUE of Lyon, France, who has been at L’Escale in Greenwich, Conn., is the new chef at “21” Club.
RON WINGWEE HSU, who was at Le Bernardin for eight years, is the new chef at Le Colonial in Midtown, where he is introducing dishes like pho with foie gras.
WAYNE NISH, who was to be the chef at Pavilion in Union Square Park, opening in June, has resigned from the project.
HIROKI ODO, who worked in Kyoto and Tokyo, was promoted to executive chef at Kajitsu.
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