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                         Negril Village  
                          There's more to Caribbean cooking 
                          than beef patties and jerk chicken, or at least that's 
                          what owner Marva Layne is out to prove at Negril 
                          Village, the third restaurant in her rice-and-peas 
                          realm. Bigger and flashier than Negril and Island Spice, 
                          the new space has 100 seats, a downstairs bar called 
                          Rum Lounge (pictured), and a V.I.P. section. Co-chefs 
                          Paul Joseph and Pablo Trobo have collaborated on a culinary 
                          style they call Nu-Caribbean: an island mélange of dishes 
                          like smoked jerk marlin, tamarind-grilled pork on sugarcane 
                          skewers, and "Blue Mountain" steak with coffee-spiked 
                          rum and white yams.  
                            70 West 3rd 
                          Street  
                          212-477-2804 
                          · Cuisine: Caribbean 
                          
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                          Kai  
                          You'll never look at your afternoon 
                          cup of tea the same way after a meal at Kai. 
                          The 44-seat restaurant serving food inspired by kaiseki, 
                          the complex Japanese meal served after a tea ceremony, 
                          opens next week above the new Ito En retail shop (pictured), 
                          owned by Japan's largest producer of green tea. Those 
                          exquisitely presented courses are accompanied by tea 
                          or sake in handblown glass or painted copper cups. Four 
                          levels of prix-fixe dinners ($55, $70, $85, and $110 
                          for the full-on omakase) are offered-lunch is à la carte-and 
                          most dishes are flavored with the restaurant's theme 
                          ingredient: striped bass roasted with tea leaves packed 
                          in a salt crust, green-tea noodles with silky tofu, 
                          and lobster-salmon-and-grapefruit salad with green-tea 
                          vinaigrette. If that's all too financially caffeinated 
                          for you, visit the downstairs shop, which specializes 
                          in tea paraphernalia and has a cherry-wood counter just 
                          for sipping. 
                            822 Madison 
                          Avenue, at 69th Street  
                          212-988-7277 
                          · Cuisine: Japanese 
                         
                         
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                  Cipriani Dolci 
                    At the Grand Central outpost of the international empire, there's a train
track embedded beneath an inch-and-a-half-thick sheet of glass. There's also
tuna tartare, beef carpaccio with the signature Cipriani sauce, Bellinis
galore, a "prosciutto tower," and, as the name suggests, plenty of desserts.
Plus all-day service, sandwiches and salads, and, come summer, actual
air-conditioning-a rarity in that landmarked terminal.   
                      West Balcony, Grand
Central Terminal
 
                     
                    212-973-0999 
                    · Cuisine: Italian 
                   
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                  ONY 
                    This casual Japanese canteen comes to us via the owners of Menchanko-Tei, the
noodle-shop chainlet. Only here, the name stands for "Original Noodle for
You," and the focus is on customized ramen. Choose your broth, your
toppings, and slurp. Or if that takes too much effort, go with one of the
chef's specials, like kimchi menchanko, udon or soba noodles, fried calamari
rolls, or Japanese-style fried free-range chicken. 
  
                      357 Sixth Avenue 
                     
                    212-414-8429 
                    · Cuisine: Japanese 
                   
                     
                    
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            Openings Archive 
            Week 
              of February 11  
               Calle Nueve 
Week 
              of February 4  
               Q Café , Cast Iron Cafe, Bouley, Michael 
              Jordan's the Steak House NYC Wine Salon  
              Week 
              of January 28  
               Ritz-Carlton New York at Battery Park, 
              3 Bow Thais 
               
               
              
               
             and 
              more ...  
			
            Photos: From top to bottom- Patrik Rytikangas, Carina Salvi 
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