A Flurry of Restaurant Openings, Including a Spinoff of Lamano

Paella Tradicional (Image: Paul Wagtouicz/Veronica Sage)

Build it, and they will come.

In April, a second incarnation of the wildly popular Spanish restaurant Lamano is scheduled to open in the West Village. Like its older, if smaller (the new branch will seat 50), Chelsea sister, the restaurant will feature pintxos, the Basque answer to tapas, which may be washed down with Spanish wines from an extensive list, 12 variations on the sangria theme, and sherry cocktails. Lamano West Village, 39 Christopher Street.

“Beer, Booze, Bites, Beats.” Those are the four B’s that make up the slogan, not to mention the menu, at Harlem Hops, which also plans an April opening. The restaurant will specialize in small batch beers made by family-owned and small businesses, in many instances by people of color. Among the bites, you will find a variety of sausages (when’s the last time you had Italian tofu bratwurst?) and “Poppin’ patties” (think spicy cheesy beef and plantain). The “Beats” seems to augur live music. Harlem Hops, 2268 Adam Clayton Powell Junior Boulevard, 646-998-3444.

It’s not every pizza restaurant that gives you a choice between coal-fired and wood-fired, but Millie’s of Staten Island does — and will in duplicate when its satellite establishment opens in April. The same artisan pizzas featuring blistered crusts will be on hand, as well Millie’s signature meatballs. Millie’s in the Bricktown Center, 185 Bricktown Way.

Image: Millie’s

Go west, young man. Marcus Samuelsson did late last year when he opened Marcus B&P in Newark, and now others appear to be following his lead. Among them is Jeff Lam, the creative force behind Chinese Tuxedo, the iconoclastic pan-Asian restaurant in New York’s Chinatown. His latest venture, The Ashford, which scheduled to open in May, is a 17,000 square-foot multi-level dining destination on Jersey City’s downtown “restaurant row.” The press release promises “elevated food, craft cocktails, and a vibrant nightlife. The Ashford, 145 Newark Avenue, Jersey City.

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