Chelsea Speakeasy Raines Law Room Opens a New Addition This Weekend

Popular speakeasy expands

The Raines Law Room, the stylish, candlelit speakeasy in Chelsea, has been closed for renovations recently. This weekend, it will reopen with its newly designed addition, which adds 20 seats to the previously tiny space. The addition will feature more intimate seating for two as well as space to accommodate private events for up to 25 guests. The newly expanded cocktail lounge — which is also getting a makeover for its central bar — will open on April 7. The Raines Law Room, which opened in Chelsea in 2009, recently also added a second location in Midtown’s William hotel.

Openings and coming attractions

Hell Square has a new yet-to-be-named, tiny pizza joint slinging slices out of a no-seats storefront at 159A Ludlow St. On Friday, Nomad all-day cafe Blank Slate Coffee & Kitchen will add teahouse Blank Slate Tea down the street at 121 Madison Ave., serving tea drinks and casual cafe food like avocado toast and yogurt bowls. Matthew Kenney of Bar Verde is bringing another plant-based restaurant to East Village. Signage has gone up on Second Ave. for Arata, which will serve Japanese-influenced vegetarian food. It’s set to open in early May.

West Village restaurant adds Tokyo location

Jody Williams has already brought an offshoot of her West Village French bistro Buvette to Paris, and now she has added another near Ginza in central Tokyo, serving classic bistro fare, pastries, shared plates, coffee, and cocktails all day in Japan. Unlike the quaint, tiny West Village original, the Tokyo location is on the ground floor of a real big mall.

A bake sale for Planned Parenthood

On April 8, Café Altro Paradiso is hosting its annual bake sale for Planned Parenthood featuring a killer lineup that includes Le Coucou, Superiority Burger, Reynard, Le Bernardin, Otway, Daily Provisions, and King. The event starts at 11 a.m., and tickets can be purchased at the door and are $5 per pastry. All proceeds go to Planned Parenthood.