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Off the Menu

Jose Garces Opens Amada on Familiar Turf Downtown

At Amada, suckling pig comes on a wagon with various sides, part of “a tour of Andalusia,” Jose Garces said.Credit...Liz Barclay for The New York Times

Amada For Jose Garces, opening a restaurant in Manhattan is something of a homecoming. The chef, whose parents came from Ecuador, spent his early years working in Spain and New York before relocating to Philadelphia with his mentor, Douglas Rodriguez. Mr. Garces’ spacious wood-toned restaurant, hung with blue weavings, has a patio in front and a separate cafe and wine bar called Amadita. “I want to take people on a tour of Andalusia,” he said, referring to the sunny, southern, citrus-scented province where he worked, “but also of Spain in general.” The open kitchen, led by Justin Bogle, chef de cuisine, turns out tapas, traditional and inventive; cheeses and charcuterie to be picked up with slender forks; various ingredients seared on the plancha; a couple of paellas; and suckling pigs to order ahead and for carving tableside. Michael Laiskonis consults on the sweets. The all-Spanish wine list is rich with sherries and that Spanish predilection, gin and tonics. 250 Vesey Street (West Street), 212-542-8947, amadarestaurant.com.

Agern This Grand Central Terminal restaurant with Nordic roots (the name means acorn in Danish) has the highest profile of the culinary entrepreneur Claus Meyer’s many projects in New York. Best known as a founder of the much-lauded Noma in Copenhagen, he already has bakery and cooking-school outposts in Brooklyn. Here, in what was a men’s room and barbershop, he has installed undulating wood panels and chevron-patterned tile designed by his wife, Christina Meyer Bengtsson. The chef, Gunnar Gislason, who owns Dill in Reykjavik, Iceland, seeks out local and seasonal ingredients like nettles, wild mushrooms, celeriac and rutabagas: 89 East 42nd Street, 646-568-4018, agernrestaurant.com.

Bill’s New York City The restaurateur Curt Huegel has had his eye on the venerable Bill’s Gay Nineties for many years. He said that he missed out on the multistory townhouse when John DeLucie’s Crown Group took it over, and now with it gone, he grabbed it. His makeover is subtle, and the food emphasizes American classics like Caesar salad, lobster thermidor, steaks, roast chicken and layer cake. (Wednesday): 57 East 54th Street, 212-518-2727, bills54.com.

The Butcher’s Daughter, West Village A branch of the Kenmare Street vegan cafe offers additions like pizza from a wood-burning oven and cold-pressed cocktails. (Sunday): 581 Hudson Street (Bank Street), 917-388-2123, thebutchersdaughter.com.

Delaware & Hudson Tavern This adjunct to Patti Jackson’s Delaware & Hudson has its own identity, offering an à la carte menu (the main restaurant is for tastings at dinner) and a retail area for the chef’s doughnuts, pretzels and country-style sweet and savory pies, (Sunday): 135 North Fifth Street (Bedford Avenue), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-218-8191, delawareandhudson.com.

The Gin Parlour Extensive renovations have included a redone lobby for the grand InterContinental New York Barclay hotel, with a free-standing bar that features gin. (A number of hotels in the chain have spirits-themed bars.) More than 80 gins from around the world will be poured straight and in cocktails and mixed drinks. The chef, Willis Loughhead, serves bar bites, with an emphasis on oysters. (Friday): 111 East 48th Street, 212-755-5900, intercontinentalnybarclay.com.

Grand Banks This seasonal seafood restaurant on the Sherman Zwicker, a historic wooden schooner moored on the Hudson River, is reopening with the chef Kerry Heffernan in charge of a raw bar and small-plates menu. It has added a dining room, called the Pilot House, in the captain’s cabin.(Tuesday): Pier 25, Hudson River Park (North Moore Street), grandbanks.org.

Sanatorium The cocktail wizard Albert Trummer is back in town with this bar and lounge with a clinical theme. The walls are the kind of green you’d expect in a hospital; there are surgical lights (and crystal chandeliers) and lots of stainless steel, and the drinks incorporate herbal elixirs that Mr. Trummer concocts. (Saturday): 14 Avenue C (East Houston Street), 212-614-0300.

Sabbia This summer, Eataly’s rooftop will be transported to the Italian shore, with an oyster bar featuring Island Creek varieties from Duxbury, Mass., and plates of seafood. (Friday): 200 Fifth Avenue (23rd Street), 212-937-8910, eataly.com.

Recette Jesse Schenker’s West Village tasting-menu restaurant succumbed to a high rent, and the chef now concentrates on his larger Flatiron restaurant, the Gander, where there are tasting menus and à la carte choices.

Teodora This Northern Italian restaurant will serve its final dinner on Friday: 141 East 57th Street, 212-826-7101, teodorarestaurant.com.

Mr. Curry The pop-up dinner restaurant that Caroline Fidanza and Rebecca Collerton ran three nights a week out of Saltie, their sandwich shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is no more. Ms. Collerton has left for personal reasons, Ms. Fidanza said, adding that she does not plan another evening pop-up. But she is extending Satlie’s hours to serve breakfast starting at 8 a.m.: saltieny.com.

Arvid Rosengren, who has been the sommelier at Charlie Bird for a little over a year, brought some prestige along with his corkscrew: In 2010, he was named the best sommelier in Sweden, and in 2013, he was selected the best in Europe. Last week in Mendoza, Argentina, he captured the title of best sommelier in the world in a contest run every three years by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale, a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1969. “It was a goal I had for the past six years, and it has given me a great sense of achievement,” Mr. Rosengren said. “It was about the hardest thing I have ever done, nerve-racking, thousands of hours of study, the most maddeningly esoteric stuff.” Though he said that past winners usually went on to become consultants, he plans to focus on his work at Charlie Bird. Robert Bohr, an owner of Charlie Bird and the new Pasquale Jones, said he wanted Mr. Rosengren to concentrate on practical wine service. “He has to be on the floor,” Mr. Bohr said.

Burger & Lobster A five-year-old London-based chain, with a branch in the Flatiron district, will add its menu of burgers, lobsters and lobster rolls, each for a flat $20, to the Bryant Park area. It expects to open in the fall with a ground-floor entrance and an upstairs dining room with 150 seats, in the building that houses the Stephen Sondheim Theater: 123 West 43rd Street.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section D, Page 4 of the New York edition. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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