BABY STEPS Country (90 Madison Ave. at 29th St., 212-889-7100), the sister restaurant of Town, opens today, sort of. The cafe there opens today. The main dining room upstairs should open in about six weeks.

OVER THE RIVER Have you ever wanted to visit an artist’s studio and a restaurant at the same time? Have you ever wanted to do it in a shopping mall? If so, then you’re in luck. Cafe Tu Tu Tango has signed a lease to open this spring in the Palisades Mall in West Nyack, N.Y. The six-unit restaurant chain, based in the artist colony of Coconut Grove, Fla., attempts to simulate the loft of a wealthy Spanish benefactor in Barcelona. Founder Brad Weiser contacts local art schools and community newspapers to seek out visual artists to use the restaurants as studios. Diners can eat and patronize the arts at the same time. The food is all Mediterranean small plates, though Mr. Weiser doesn’t call it tapas.

BRAZILIAN BOOZE Brasserio Caviar & Banana (12 E. 22nd St. between Park Avenue South and Broadway,212-353-0500) is offering a free tasting of cachaca, Brazil’s national liquor, on October 10. Seven super-premium varieties of the sugarcane-based alcohol, best known as the base for Brazil’s national cocktail, the caipirinha, will be sampled along with hors d’oeuvres from the restaurant. Seating is limited, so reserve your place by e-mailingevents@belezabrazil.com. Don’t worry if it’s fully booked; the tastings will be repeated on October 24 and November 7.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER Larry Kolar, who was executive chef of Bolivar, Arizona 206, Maison, Commune, and Commissary, is now serving up food from a variety of South American countries at Camino Sur, a new restaurant in the Zipper Theatre complex (336 W. 37th St. between Eighth and Ninth avenues, 212-695-4600). Mr. Kolar is featuring dishes from Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru.

GRECIAN FRENCH Jean-Louis Dumonet is no longer executive chef at the Carlyle Hotel (35 E.76 St.,212-744-1600),so the restaurant there, Dumonet at the Carlyle, has had to change its name. It has reopened as the Carlyle Restaurant with Dumonet protege Jimmy Sakatos, freshly promoted from executive sous chef, heading up the kitchen.

The food is still mostly French, but Mr. Sakatos is adding some of his Greek heritage as he reworks the menu. Already on the menu is a lettuce free Greek salad, and the chef is also putting together a deconstructed moussaka. The traditional components of this casserole of ground lamb, potatoes, and eggplant will be presented separately as braised lamb with a quenelle of eggplant and potatoes cooked in the lamb jus. Expect more grilled fish, too.

MORE MEALS Bette (461 W. 23rd St. at Tenth Avenue, 212-366-0404), is now serving lunch from noon to 3 p.m. Dinnertime favorites are available, but so are soups, salads, and sandwiches such as duck liver pate with prosciutto and fig, and sliced filet mignon on a garlic baguette.

Mr. Thorn is food editor at Nation’s Restaurant News. He can be reached atbthorn@nrn.com.