Butter

Open for : DinnerAlcohol: Full BarPayment Options: Cash, Visa, Master Card, American Express

Where to Sit: The upstairs decor is a bit more dramatic, though the downstairs offers a loungier scene, and a DJ plays after 10pm on weekends.

Bar Menu: More casual fare like crab cakes and Kobe beef empanadas comprise the bar menu.

Oddly enough, the titular ingredient can scarcely be discerned on the menu at Butter, an ambitious dining room situated over a trendy subterranean drink-and-dance scene (the Birch Lounge). The décor could be called Adirondack-chic, with split-log seats in the front lounge and a backlit screen print of a forest dominating the elegant dining room with its arched ceiling. Downstairs is darker and...

Young Hollywood still flocks to Richie Akiva's wood-paneled homage to deforestation. Hallway tube leads to soaring main dining space, which resembles the inside of a just-popped roll of Pillsbury dough. Chef Alex Guarnaschelli serves up surprisingly hearty grub, with heavy meats and greenmarket veggies. Downstairs Birch Room lounge carries on tree theme, with Mondays strictly for the créme de...

Something fascinating has happened on the rather staid restaurant row along Lafayette Street near the Public Theatre. After years of stagnant culinary offerings in the vicinity, along came executive chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli, who offers traditional American fare highlighted and enhanced by subtle global influences with a fine touch for seasonal ingredients. In recent years, while Butter...

In Short
Trendy restaurants are lucky if their ""it"" factor lasts a full year, but Butter has managed to keep the Blackberries of the velvet rope crowd buzzing since 2002. Much of this...

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