Openings
DANS LE NOIR? Dining in the pitch dark, while you are being served by waiters who are blind or visually impaired, is the concept that Edouard de Broglie established for the Dans Le Noir? restaurants in Europe. The long-awaited New York version has opened. Guests enter a large lighted bar and reception area where they store any luminous items in lockers and select from various menu categories, like seafood, but are not told exactly what they will be served. Three courses are $43 to $79, depending on the wine selections: 246 West 38th Street, (212) 575-1671.
JIN RAMEN This is a serious ramen house, with a menu that explains the various styles, based on the types of noodles and the broths they are served in, including chicken and pork, boiled pork bones and miso: 3183 Broadway (125th Street), (646) 559-2862.
LITTLE TOWN NYC An uptown branch of the small-plates spot on Irving Place, which serves dishes with New York State themes like Hudson Valley grilled cheese and fried Long Island oyster loaf, is adding a branch on Restaurant Row with some new, larger plates, including Waldorf salad and Little Italy sausage with pepper pasta. (Opens Monday): 366 West 46th Street, (212)677-6300.
NETA Here is a serene setting for sushi, small plates and tasting menus from Nick Kim and Jimmy Lau, chefs who worked at Masa and Bar Masa. (Friday): 61 West Eighth Street, (212) 505-2610.
SERAI The cafe in the Rubin Museum of Art has a new name and a more focused Indian-Himalayan menu to match its collection of Asian works. It is now being run by Starr Events, the restaurateur Stephen Starr’s company, which also runs Caffè Storico, in the New-York Historical Society. The chef, Ali Loukzada, offers Indian wraps, samosas, sausage bao buns, paneer curry, Himalayan red rice and a Himalayan bread sampler with raita chutney and Tibetan hot sauce. Desserts include semolina and pineapple halwa in a banana leaf: 150 West 17th Street, (212) 620-5000.
Looking Ahead
M. WELLS STEAKHOUSE Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis, the married couple who owned M. Wells, the critically acclaimed diner-style restaurant in Long Island City, Queens, that lost its lease and closed last summer, will open a new restaurant in the same neighborhood in late fall. “We wanted to do something totally different from what we were doing before, even though our food was always meat-driven,” Ms. Obraitis said. It will be a steakhouse with about 80 seats, in what is now a vacant garage. They expect to serve traditional steakhouse cuts, as well as some European cuts of meat. Ms. Obraitis said that the restaurant would feature concrete, brick and dark wood, and that she and her husband would use part of the space to build a catamaran with the help of some experts and friends: 43-15 Crescent Street (43rd Avenue), Long Island City, Queens.
FRANCESCA The two Franks of Italian cuisine, Falcinelli and Castronovo, are turning one of their signature Frankies Spuntino restaurants — the one that they refer to as “Frankies 17,” on the Lower East Side — into a Basque-style bar and restaurant serving pintxos, the tapas-style snacks from northeastern Spain. The chef, Ryan Bartlow, spent two years cooking at the Michelin three-star Akelarre in San Sebastián, Spain. He is moving over from the Spuntino at 570 Hudson Street; Katie O’Donnell, formerly the chef de cuisine at Esca, has replaced him there. Frankies 17 will close March 21 and the new place will open two days later: 17 Clinton Street (Houston Street), (212) 253-2303.
THE GREAT GOOGAMOOGA Watch your back, Le Fooding. This new outdoor music, food, beer and wine festival, produced by Superfly, will be held May 19 and 20 in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Among those selling their specialities will be Colicchio Sons, Frankies Spuntino restaurants, The Spotted Pig, Roberta’s and Brooklyn Brewery. Free tickets will be available online March 15: googamooga.com.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: March 6, 2012
An earlier version of this article mispelled the name of the GoogaMooga festival as Googa Mooga.
