Amid a Scramble for Midtown Tenants, a Restaurant Opens in the MetLife Building

Franklin Becker, co-founder of fast-casual Little Beet, AI grocery app Hungryroot, and the big-pocket backer of Manhattanville food hall, has opened his second restaurant this year. Following the Press Club Grill, Becker has rolled out a spot that seems to be hedging bets on the return of affluent financial service workers to Midtown, despite the area’s “panic” for tenants. This week, he has opened Point Seven with Stephen Loffredo (from Cena and Soho’s Jovia), at 200 Park Avenue, at 44th Street, inside the MetLife building. The two-story restaurant features a raw bar, small plates, and fish dishes like grilled swordfish with chickpeas and couscous, and a Caribbean fish stew. The name of the restaurant is a reference to the earth’s composition which is 70 percent water, so the interior pushes the oceanic theme with coral-like lighting fixtures, curved seafoam-colored banquettes, and broken terrazzo floors, like sea glass. It’s the first of three big Manhattan seafood restaurant openings in the next few months, with the 120-seat Seahorse from Mercer Street Hospitality on track to open in November in the Union Square flagship W Hotel, with executive chef, Paul Hargrove, from Stone Barns at Blue Hill and Manhattan’s Standard Grill, overseeing a raw bar and a seasonal menu. There’s also a 7,000-square-foot spot from James Kent of Crown Shy and Saga opening at 360 Park Avenue South, at East 26th Street in Flatiron on track for next year. — Melissa McCart, editor

A black currant liqueur tasting room is opening

Rachael Petach, an alum of Williamsburg’s Wythe Hotel, moved upstate to launch her brand C. Cassis, a black currant liqueur company. Now C. Cassis is gearing up to open a Rhinebeck, New York tasting room inside of a refurbished dairy barn, according to T Magazine. Katy Moore, an alum of Marlow & Sons, will lead the kitchen, which will offer small plates like dolma. Experimental distilled spirits, like ones using tomatoes from the garden, will also be available for tasting, as will picnic baskets filled with snacks, according to the publication.

An Armenian pop-up finds a permanent home

On the weekends in Bed-Stuy, for the past two years, Ararat El-Rawi, a former fine-dining restaurant server, set up a makeshift cafe serving Armenian food. Now, Little Armenia Cafe is becoming a permanent restaurant. El-Rawi signed on a space in Greenpoint, at 1035 Manhattan Avenue, near Freeman Street, on the same block as Wenwen.

B as in Block Party

The C as in Charlie team, a Noho-area restaurant known for its free shots and Korean Southern food, is throwing a one-year-anniversary block party on Sunday, October 1. There will be food specials, games, and DJs, according to the flier.