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Butter

415 Lafayette St. (4th St.) Send to Phone
New YorkNY 10003
212-253-2828 | Make Restaurant Reservations
Half restaurant, half club, in the tradition of Lotus.

Cuisine

Open

Dinner Mon.-Sat.

Features

* Click here for rating key

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 more seductive, serving small bites and occasional celebrity sightings enhanced by a glowing red glassed-in wine-rack wall. Nurture was destiny for executive chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli, whose mother tested and edited cookbooks; Guarnaschelli went on to cook for Larry Forgione at An American Place, and trained further in Burgundy and under Guy Savoy in Paris before landing as sous chef at Daniel Boulud's celebrated namesake restaurant. An advocate of seasonal cooking, Guarnaschelli's menu features plates such as grilled halibut with roasted asparagus and squash emulsion; organic chicken breast accompanied by cherry tomato salsa; or the buffalo mozzarella pizzette topped by Umbrian black truffle paste and Parmesan. Desserts include a fruit-and-cheese plate for the virtuous; the more indulgent might plump for gooey chocolate-Grand Marnier cake topped by huckleberries and vanilla-chip ice cream.

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