By Scott Etkin and Lisa Kava
Le Pain Quotidien, the casual French restaurant, is planning to renovate its longtime location in Central Park next to Sheep Meadow, near 69th Street. The plan includes reconfiguring the footprint to create more usable space for the restaurant’s operations and adding a “modern pergola” to create the option for indoor dining. The structure will have a motorized ceiling made of wood that can open and close depending on the weather, according to the architect, Jason Gold, at a recent Community Board 7 meeting. This will allow the restaurant to operate year-round; currently it closes in the winter months. Le Pain Quotidien has been at this location since 2010 and it is funding the renovation. Its concession agreement with the NYC Parks Department runs through 2037. There will be seating for about 60 people – the same as there is now. The construction is expected to take about six weeks, starting in February or March.
La Caridad, the Chinese-Cuban restaurant that’s returning to the Upper West Side between Amsterdam and Columbus on 72nd Street, shared some more information about the opening when applying for a liquor license at a recent Community Board 7 meeting. The restaurant will be under new ownership but carry forward the same menu as its previous iteration on 78th Street, which closed in 2020 after more than 50 years. The space will have nine tables with seating for 36 customers (indoor only). As previously mentioned in this column, Chinese-Cuban restaurants were once much more common in the city, but now only a few remain.
Rampoldi, a fine-dining restaurant based in Monte Carlo, has opened a location at 49 West 64th Street (just off Broadway). Founded in 1946, the Rampoldi in Monaco has been included in the Michelin Guide. This is Rampoldi’s first location in the US. Its dress code is “dinner-appropriate attire, sophisticated and chic.” The space used to be Atlantic Grill.
QQ Nails & Spa has replaced another salon, Less & More Nail Lab, at 167 Amsterdam between 67th and 68th Streets. Services include manicure/pedicure and waxing. QQ Nails has three other locations on the Upper West Side and many more throughout the city. New customers get 15% off their visit.
Amorino Gelato is opening a location at 44 West 63rd Street (between Broadway and Columbus Avenue), at the base of the Empire Hotel. Amorino was founded in Paris in 2002 and has hundreds of international shops, including another one on the Upper West Side at 414 Amsterdam Ave (80th Street). The popular gelato shop also serves macaroons with a gelato center as well as tea and coffee. Lavelier, a cosmetics shop, was formerly in the space. (Thanks to the Lincoln Square Business Improvement District for the Rampodi, QQ Nails, and Amorino tips.)
Per Se, the high end restaurant by chef Thomas Keller in the Shops at Columbus Circle, is planning to reopen on October 6th. The restaurant closed temporarily at the end of July for renovations, which were done by the space’s original designer, Adam Tihany. Reservations are available to book for the month of October. Per Se has been at this location since 2004 and it was added to the Michelin Guide two years later.
To receive West Side Rag’s free email newsletter, please click here.
It looks like the Panera Bread at Broadway and 85th Street is about to open. All the equipment is in, the lights are fully on and they were washing the windows yesterday. According to a sign in the window this morning, they are currently training staff (who looked to be present through those shiny-clean windows).
Will Panera be dine-in or only take-out like some other Manhattan locations?
I was walking by when someone asked one of the people doing the training when they were opening. They said this Monday, Sept. 25.
Open for all of your Yom Kippur break-the-fast needs!
I am very excited. Great addition to the neighborhood. Fast casual options are very welcome.
The Two Boots Pizza on 71st will be opening tomorrow at 4pm with a grand opening party next Wednesday, according to signs in their windows. The space looks very nice and I’ve been looking forward to this for months.
Hope they come back up to 96th. I miss that place!
Is that where Big Nick’s Too used to be?
Thank you! I have been checking the website for months only to see “Coming Soon” forever etched.
Re Rampoldi, I’m afraid the description “sophisticated and chic” will need to be earned; it means nothing if it’s simply proclaimed by the business.
That’s not the description, it’s the dress code. It depends on you if you decide to show up looking sophisticated and chic or not. ; )
Ethan, the establishment is not describing itself as ‘sophisticated and chic’, they are requesting that guests wear “dinner-appropriate attire, sophisticated and chic.” They want the clientele to bring in that level of ‘eliteness’.
Ok, then I misunderstood and stand corrected. But what’s considered “sophisticated and chic” or “dinner-appropriate attire?” (I know, “if you have to ask, then you don’t belong.”) Seems very subjective and, frankly, unwelcoming. I dress pretty well, I think, but that’s just my opinion. The restaurant may think otherwise, and that makes me a little nervous.
Just don’t walk in dressed like Senator Fetterman.
Even the Monte Carlo location has photos on Google Maps of folks in sweaters, button-downs, polos, cardigans, etc. I say – don’t overthink it.
Great news about Amorino! I was worried when I saw it in the headline that the 80th St location was closing.
I have been dressing well, by my standards, to dine at upscale restaurants for decades, and I resent some restaurateur deciding which, if any, items in my wardrobe are “sophisticated and chic” enough to allow me to eat a pricey meal at Rampoldi. I suppose they are trying to counter the anything-goes trend of recent years by discouraging jeans and shorts and sneakers, but this snobbish message is ill-conceived and unwelcoming from a new enterprise in town. Guys, this is NYC, not Monte Carlo.
After looking at the menu, the prices are not astronomical, more or less in line with other good quality establishments. Being surrounded by elegant customers would be a great plus!
Lighten up. They’re just saying what you’ve been doing – put something nice on. Noone will be judging from there on. “Elevated” language is typical for virtually every restaurant (or real estate broker, etc.).
If you’d trust them enough with the food you’ll put in your mouth, maybe trust that they have the best intention on dresscode messaging and ambiance. If not…well, there are other places.
There was a time NYC residents knew what to wear, too. The statement also helps the patron not feel out of place by setting the tone in advance. I think it’s perfectly expected to mention a dress code if they have one. What is not good is to show up hot, tired, sweaty, dirty, in shorts or ripped up jeans and sneakers and then get turned away when hungry.
Re Rampoldi:
If I can afford to eat in your establishment, I can choose to dress however I please as long as I wear clothes that don’t expose any “private parts.”
Does “dinner-appropriate attire, sophisticated and chic” mean you’ll get refused entry if you are wearing a tight dress where your breasts are bursting out and everyone will gawk? How about men having to wear jackets as they once had to do?
Of course you can “choose” to. We can choose to do a lot of things. It is about knowing what is appropriate for the venue and what is not. As Sam Katz adroitly points out, this knowledge used to be much more common in this town,.
I for one will not be frequenting the establishment, but I can respect the restaurant for making such a request. I recently had a business dinner at Quality Italian and the table next to us was so boorish and loud, it was honestly embarrassing for our party. The wait staff no maitre’d said not a word to them. I will never go back professionally or personally. In an age where people feel like they can dress and act however they please, this is a sad reality for an establishment to maintain some level of quality for an upscale clientele.
Six openings and no closings. It feels like the tide has turned!
I wish there were more openings in the high 80’s and 90’s. Sadly this area is still experiencing a dearth of new business. Some nice, new restaurants would be very welcome, as so many have closed.
Great new addition for take out or casual outdoor seating – Shabazz Shwarma on Amsterdam between 92nd and 93rd Streets. Falafel pita os excellent. I’ve gone 2x this week to take out lunch. I hear it’s very popular between 6:30 pm – 9 pm.
Wow, the days of the orange drink and the spinning dogs are long gone. Not sure that’s a good thing.
Good. I applaud Rampoldi for having a dress code. I’m so sick of people (and not just tourists) looking like slobs everywhere they go, including the theater, restaurants, museums, and often acting accordingly. because, hey, “it’s a free country” and that means you can be a boor/bore. Have some pride in your appearance. Wear something that doesn’t double as gym clothes or pajamas. Bring back decorum. Bring back dress codes requiring men to wear jackets.. Enough of this “anything goes” nonsense. If you don’t like it, don’t go there.
We will save our ‘sophisticated and chic’ clothes for Per Se.
Le Pain Quotidien (or Pan kittykin as I say it) should renovate and expand the restrooms especially the women’s. The line for the ladies room in the summer is enormous, I always think the women have to spend half their day waiting instead of enjoying their picnics.
Really cool idea with LPQ! Having a nice casual spot to pop into on a cold winter day for a glass of wine or coffee sounds dreamy. Only options in the park have been Tavern and the Boathouse.
A restaurant having a dress code really isn’t something to get angry about, people.
Apparently giving an idea of appropriate attire offends so many people. I guess if my restaurant offered free ice cream WSR readers would complain there was no vegan ice cream. Do readers have to whine about every imaginable slight. Chill out
Coming Friday, October 6th Per Se is back after a long renovation since July with two awesome tasting menus are going to be offered daily: a nine-course chef’s tasting menu, as well as a nine-course vegetable tasting menu. No single ingredient is ever repeated throughout the meal.
The most expensive restaurant in New York City with the most expensive taste, I’m looking forward!
Caridad has been mediocre at best for years. Dinastia, right across the street from where they’ll be reopening kicks Caridad’s butt and pretty much always has. My best wishes to them though, we can never have too many Chino-Latino joints on the UWS.
Quick correction: tour story refers to Le Pain Quotidien as a “casual French restaurant.” While the name of the restaurant is in French, Le Pain Quotidien was founded by Belgian chef Alain Coumont who started his eponymous bakery in Brussels, Belgium in 1990. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Pain_Quotidien) Should it not be identified as a “casual Belgian restaurant”?