Atera and Francesca Open - NYTimes.com ATERA For a mere 17 diners - 12 at a counter and 5 at a table - Matthew Lightner, formerly the chef of Castagna in Portland, Ore., will prepare a 10-course, $150 tasting menu, a different one each evening. But the herbs on the plate will not have been plucked from the restaurant's wall of greenery, which he said was meant mainly to set the stage. (Opens Wednesday): 77 Worth Street (Broadway); (212) 226-1444. FRANCESCA Frank Castronovo summed up what goes into a new restaurant in New York these days: "It's the best fun ever, opening a restaurant with no D.O.B., no S.L.A., no D.O.H. no C.B. 3," he said in an e-mail. For those who have never had to pay the rent while their dream dining room is delayed for months, he was referring to the various agencies that have to sign off on the project before customers can come in. And he didn't even mention Con Edison turning on the gas. With his partner, Frank Falcinelli, Mr. Castronovo is changing their Spuntino restaurant on the Lower East Side from an Italian to a Spanish place, serving Basque-style tapas fashioned by Ryan Bartlow, who toiled in San Sebastián, Spain, for two years. (Friday): 17 Clinton Street (Houston Street); (212) 253-2303. GINNY'S SUPPER CLUB When Marcus Samuelsson and Andrew Chapman opened Red Rooster in Harlem a little over a year ago, they had a rather featureless downstairs space that was occasionally used for community activities, and increasingly for music. "I wanted to make sure we had a success upstairs before I tackled this," said Mr. Samuelsson, who has now turned the space into a retro supper club rich with mellow evening atmosphere, to evoke the Cotton Club and other uptown hot spots of yore. The 120-seat space features mainly live music like R&B, jazz, soul and swing, every night. A menu unlike Red Rooster's, mostly small to midsize plates, includes seared shrimp with endive, boneless chicken confit fried and served with waffles, and sliced steak with potato cake. Cocktails are the responsibility of the consulting mixologist, Eben Klemm, who tweaks classics like the Sazerac with homemade caraway rye: 310 Lenox Avenue (125th Street); (212) 792-9001. STICKY'S FINGER JOINT An upstate farm provides the chicken for boneless baked, fried or plain "fingers," along with a tofu option, at this spot, which is part of Eighth Street's makeover from a strip of discount shoe stores to a showcase of food, coffee and dessert shops. Quite a collection of sauces and sides are available in this storefront, with just 12 seats and a takeout counter: 31 West Eighth Street; (212) 777-7131. THE BUTTERFLY In the Altamarea Group of restaurants (Marea, Ai Fiori and others), Eben Freeman is to cocktails and drinks what Michael White is to food. As "head of bar operations and innovation," he has taken the lead in this small restaurant and bar, to open this summer. Originally, the group was looking to open a bar, perhaps serving cured meats and cheeses, Mr. Freeman said, but when it leased this space in TriBeCa, it realized it had to sell food, too. And Mr. White's menu, still being developed, will be basic: steak, burgers, fried chicken and some special features, like a prime-rib night on Wednesdays and a fish fry on Fridays: 225 West Broadway (Franklin Street).