TROPICAL GOTHAM Joel Reiss, who is chef at York Grill (1690 York Ave., between 88th and 89th streets, 212-772-0261) has been hired to head up the kitchen of Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Manhattan, scheduled to open in Times Square this fall on Seventh Avenue at 49th Street.

David Burke, chef-owner of David burke & donatella and David Burke at Bloomingdale’s, is the consulting chef for the project. He hired Mr. Reiss, with whom he worked at Park Avenue Cafe and Smith & Wollensky.

Although the restaurant is named for a tanning lotion company, the theme will extend only to the beautiful waitresses.

“We’re not theme-ing it out, foodwise,” Mr.Burke said. “We’re not doing Hawaiian food and pupu platters and stuff. It’s going to be modern American food with some twists and turns” – although he hopes to do something with Hawaii’s favorite canned-meat product, Spam.

Other than that, the menu will have chicken, braised meats, grilled fish, main course salads, a variety of finger foods, and probably ceviche. Mr. Burke anticipates an average dinner check of $55-$70.

The project is being developed by HT NYC LLC, whose president, Adam Hock, said in a statement that the restaurant would be “a 21st century version of the Playboy Clubs of yesteryear.”

The decor will include glass runways down which “table concierges,” by which he means waitresses, dressed in sarong wraps and bikini tops, will walk as they serve customers.

The restaurant will also have a cabaret license, to allow for dancing.

SHAD IS HERE Shad, the gourmet fish of the spring, has arrived, and Savoy (70 Prince St., between Crosby and Lafayette streets, 212-219-9570), is offering a four-course shad bake for $55.That includes house-smoked shad with potato cake and candied spring onion; pan-roasted shad roe with Meyer lemon cream, red rose radish, and “fresh dug” carrots; oak plank-roasted fillet of shad with bacon rasher, caramelized endive, and “coq au vin” sauce, and a buttermilk panna cotta. The dessert does not have any shad in it, but it does have another traditional spring item: poached rhubarb.

Savoy will pair each course with wines for an additional $20. The menu is available through April 9.

SPECIAL DELIVERY Vento (675 Hudson St. at 14th Street, 212-699-2400), Stephen Hanson’s Italian restaurant in the meatpacking district, now delivers to an area bordered by Eighth and Tenth avenues and 19th and Jane streets. Delivery is free and the full menu is available, plus a $35 threecourse menu, which includes a glass of Prosecco.

FOO FOR LUNCH Elsewhere in Mr. Hanson’s world, Ruby Foo’s Uptown (2182 Broadway at 77th Street, 212-724-6700) is adding a vegetarian bento box to its lunch menu. The box includes seaweed salad, kimchi, tofu stir fry, garlic bok choy and jasmine rice.

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