Pete's Dish - March 25

You must believe in spring! To help kick off the season, Manon announced their after work special and bar menu. What a lark to receive 30% off all beverages from 5:00pm - 8:00pm daily at the gorgeous main bar! The whole multi-leveled space is an absolute enchantment and the new food menu includes smoked duck on buckwheat, bar crudite, blue cheese and white chocolate crab cakes (imagine?), braised pork sliders and a duo of beets. Manon is located at 407 W 14th St, New York, NY, 212-596, 7255, Manon-NYC.com.

Now, despite the fact that spring hardly has sprung, Easter will still be hopping along soon (April 20^th to be exact). Ken & Cook has an appropriate basket filled with a prix fixe for Easter Sunday. The three course menu will include an appetizer, pasta or entree and dessert for $45 per person—and live jazz! Expect such things as earthy beets, homemade ricotta, radishes, pistachios, lobster ravioli with asparagus sauce, wild mushroom risotto, sauteed wild mushrooms with truffle oil to flood the table with a final flourish of vanilla creme brulee. Ken & Cook is located at 19 Kenmare St, New York, NY, 212-966-3058, KenAndCook.com. 

The Orale MK concept was the mind-child of NYC restaurateurs Alex Mendelsohn and Louis Alvarez. And now, with Beyond Restaurants Group, Cristina Castañeda is on board to translate the former Café Frida space into a new Mexican spot on the Upper West Side. Orale Mexican Kitchen brings Mexican-inspired cuisine to a hipster scene alongside agave-based cocktails. Try the trio of guacamole among signature dishes, as well as bocadillo bites, tacos and a range of platos principales. We look forward to the Mexican Mac & Cheese! 60 seats are most accommodating and a 30-seat courtyard patio is soon to open as well—do you get the sense I can’t wait for spring? Orale Mexican Kitchen is located at 768 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, 212-749-2929, OraleMK.com.  

The owners of Surya (sadly closed) present Savoury, a new modern Indian restaurant opening March 26th that also happens to be on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Chef/owner Lala Sharma’s cooking is influenced by Western and Southern Indian cooking with the fragrant aroma of spices floating over the intimate lounge, cocktail bar and dining room. Appetizers include warm sprouted lentils tossed with rice puffs with mustard seeds and fried curry leaves and crispy cauliflower in garlic tomato sauce. Yogurt-marinated baby lamb chops, scallops in tamarind-coconut sauce, vegetarian cooking and tandoor cuisine are also among the house specialties. Of course there are requisite biryani rice dishes and crispy, puffy breads such as garlic naan. Why not sip on a lime-green Tandoori Sour with Strawberry Stoli, Midori and sour mix while at it? Savoury is located at 489 Columbus Ave, 212-875-1400, SavouryNYC.com.