Headliner
Casa Lever
The eye-catching collection of Andy Warhol portraits are gone. The walls of Casa Lever, the elegant Milanese-style Italian restaurant that just reopened after months of renovation in the landmark Lever House on Park Avenue, will now display two colorful Damien Hirst paintings, “Summer of Love” and “Love and Hate.” And the menu offers some new items, including lunchtime surprises like a lobster roll and a dry-aged short rib and brisket cheeseburger, the melt contributed by Taleggio. The menu — with Iacopo Falai, the group’s culinary director, in charge — also includes the addition of hamachi crudo, a crab pancake, paccheri with lobster, pan-seared turbot with artichokes, roast veal, and roasted baby carrots with avocado. In the atrium, the newly redone outdoor seating area and bar has sculptures by Ellsworth Kelly provided by the artist’s foundation in honor of his 100th birthday. Originally designed by Mark Newsom in 2002, the restaurant became Casa Lever when it was taken over by Sant Ambroeus Hospitality Group in 2009. An intimate private wine room has also been added.
390 Park Avenue (53rd Street), 212-888-2700, casalever.com.
Opening
Southern Charm
Brian Cartenuto, a Florida native who is the chef and owner of the West Village restaurant Bird Dog, where the South meets Italy, is opening this biscuit house nearby. Biscuits — buttermilk, Cheddar-jalapeño, gluten-free or daily specials like sweet potato on Wednesdays — are served with more than a dozen flavored butters or several jams. Biscuit sandwiches include fried chicken, country ham, pimento cheese and bacon, BLT and chicken salad. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., with 30 seats plus another six at the bar.
523 Hudson Street (West 10th Street), 646-584-3608, southerncharmnyc.com.
21 Greenpoint
The ongoing reconfiguring of the dining options in Rockefeller Center includes a new name, Under 30, for what had been the Concourse — dual passageways lined with shops and small eateries beneath 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the skyscraper that anchors the complex. The latest addition to Under 30 is this Manhattan outpost for Homer Murray’s popular spot in Brooklyn. (Mr. Murray’s father is the actor Bill Murray.) A straightforward collection of dishes include crispy artichoke hearts, vegetable dumplings, oysters, wedge salad, cheeseburger, crab toast, rigatoni with braised lamb neck and nachos with chicken tinga. There’s waiter service. (Thursday)
30 Rockefeller Plaza, Rink Level, 332-205-3560, 21greenpoint.com.
El Cid Cafe by Five Flies & Co.
A coffee shop, Five Flies, in Washington Heights, will also be serving its beverages, gelato, sandwiches and pastries on the new seasonal terrace cafe at the Hispanic Society. El Cid refers to a statue in the museum. Though the Five Flies is also the name of a venerable restaurant in Amsterdam, the connection is not so far-fetched considering that Spain once ruled the Low Countries. (Thursday)
Audubon Terrace at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, 3741 Broadway (West 155th Street), 212-926-2234, hispanicsociety.org.
