teany
Kelly Tisdale and her old friend and fellow vegan Moby always wanted a hip café to hang out in (and potentially franchise), a place with vegetarian food but no earthy-crunchy atmosphere, and lots of tea-a beverage Tisdale calls "the last guiltless pleasure." So they transformed a Lower East Side hair salon into teany, a tea-green canteen serving almost 100 blends, plus Belgian beers, red and white sangria, and champagne mojitos. The meatless menu features "teany bagels" with melted Cheddar and faux Canadian bacon, tomatillo-squash soup, and vegan vanilla-bean strawberry shortcake. And Moby's fans will recognize his Little Idiot alter ego in the mosaic-tiled floor, a humanistic counterpart to the pair of teapot-headed robots with teaspoon hands.
90 Rivington Street
212-475-9190
· Cuisine: Vegetarian

Bar Veloce
Like sitcom reunions, the panini population keeps growing: Bar Veloce, the sleek East Village spot that helped launch the craze for tiny Italian sandwiches paired with easy-drinking wines-and gave off-duty chefs a late-night home besides Blue Ribbon-has just opened another branch farther downtown. The delicious snacky menu of bruschetta, pressed panini, and tramezzini, and the all-Italian wine list remain the same, but the Ducati-riding, Mini-driving owner, Frederick Twomey, has installed a bar twice the size of the original, wisely anticipating a huge following.
17 Cleveland Place
212-966-7334
· Cuisine: Italian

THAT bar
Restaurant publicists Sam Firer and Steven Hall (pictured) have spent years counseling their clients on everything from interior design to dessert. We wonder if they'll take their own advice, now that they've partnered with Avenue owner Jeremy Wladis at THAT bar, a new gay-friendly nightspot in the old Victory Kitchen space in Brooklyn's Boerum Hill. They hope to lure the borough's young gay population with cocktails and brunch, served nightly-not that there's anything wrong with that. Besides eggs Benedict, truffled egg toast, stuffed pancakes, and challah French toast, the kitchen specializes in comfort food like burgers and grilled cheese. And in a tribute to James Beard, they're serving his Swedish lamb with coffee and cream.
116 Smith Street, near Dean Street
718-260-8900
· Cuisine: Italian