Opening
Kappo Sono
“Elevated” has become the word of choice lately to describe restaurants. But for a truly elevated kaiseki experience, take the lift up to the sixth floor of a Union Square building where the chef Chikara Sono, who was an owner of Kyo-Ya (now closed) in the East Village, presides over a 12-seat counter. At a single seating per evening, he will serve nine courses plus desserts, $350, including yellowtail cured like prosciutto, abalone and truffle croquettes, and Wagyu beef tongue. Leo Lê, the beverage director, includes Japanese labels on the wine list, as he has done at the Momoya restaurants. Opens Friday)
39 East 13th Street, 646-899-5891, no website.
Liz’s Book Bar
Maura Cheeks, an author whose novel, “Acts of Forgiveness” was published earlier this year, knows how solitary a writer’s life can be. So her goal, in opening a book store, a project inspired by her grandmother Elizabeth Parker, was a place that was welcoming. “I wanted a space where people can connect,” she said. Amid the bookshelves there’s a bar serving coffee, tea, pastries by Bien Cuit, beer and wine. Sandwiches are coming. “It’s hard to run a book store these days,” she said, “and it’s good to have another revenue stream.”
315 Smith Street (President Street), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, 718-210-2222, lizsbookbar.com.
Il Mulino Prime Steakhouse
Offer a selection of eggs Benedict and you have brunch. Add eight cuts of meat to the menu, and it’s a steak house. That’s what they’ve done with Il Mulino Prime, the SoHo edition of the venerable Greenwich Village Italian restaurant that now has 10 branches in New York, Nashville, Florida, the Poconos and Atlantic City, N.J. The steak choices at the renamed location include a Wagyu sando ($55), and a porterhouse for two ($140). There’s a new three-course $58 prix fixe with choices like a 10-ounce New York strip and a pork chop Milanese style.
331 West Broadway (Grand Street), 212-226-0020, imny.com.
AperiBar in the Park
A new service from Charlie Palmer’s AperiBar, in the Luma Hotel Times Square on West 41st Street, will now deliver a picnic spread for two to Bryant Park. Expect salad, antipasti like meatballs, arancini and artichokes, and a pizza. It’s $41, plus tax and delivery fee, utensils included. Beverages, like soft drinks, are extra. Allow about 30 minutes from the time the order is placed; the delivery person, arriving at the the park fountain, will have an AperiBar flag.
Bryant Park, 40th Street and Avenue of the Americas, aperibar.com.
Branches
Roberta’s
The Bushwick, Brooklyn, pizzeria has opened the second location of its R Slice Shop in a pedestrian plaza in the Penn District, near Penn Station. It’s on the ground floor. Upstairs later this month will be a location of Roberta’s, serving pastas, seafood, steaks and pizza in a space that includes a rooftop deck. In another Roberta’s development, the group’s Montauk outpost is not reopening this season.
Penn 1 East (33rd Street and Seventh Avenue), robertaspizza.com.
