Openings

Film Center Cafe Totally Gets a Makeover!

Hell’s Kitchen’s Film Center Cafe, heretofore a coffee-and-wraps joint plastered with movie posters, has just gotten one of the fall’s most dramatic, least expected renovations, at a cost of $2 million. (Tonight is the grand reopening.) The cheesy film memorabilia is all gone; expensive-looking Art Deco touches now define the room. The café’s owners, a deep-pocketed group led by Robert and Enrico Malta, have also upgraded the cuisine. New chef Joseph Cacace, formerly of JUdson Grill and Gramercy Tavern, has created a menu of elevated comfort food (pork chops marinated in mustard and sage, wild-mushroom risotto with white-truffle oil), and there will be twenty wines available by the glass. Not that the Film Center has completely abandoned its roots: They’ve also hired a D.J., a restaurant feature somewhere on par with old movie posters.

Film Center Cafe Totally Gets a Makeover!