CASUAL KELLER Thomas Keller, chef-owner of Per Se, has opened a 60-seat bakery shop and cafe one story below his Michelin threestar, 28-Zagat, culinary shrine. Bouchon Bakery (Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle at 59th street, third floor, 212-823-9366) is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 to 7:30 on Saturday. Lunch service – soup, sandwiches, salads, a quiche of the day, plus beer and wine – is served from 11:30 to 5:30 Monday through Wednesday, and from 11:30 to 7:30 Thursday through Saturday. The rest of the time, baked goods are for sale. It is closed on Sundays. Call them if you have questions, but do not try to make reservations: They accept walk-in service only.

NEW JOB Spice Market pastry chef Pichet Ong has taken on an additional job as consulting pastry chef of 230 Fifth (you can guess the address, at 27th Street), a 22,000-square-foot space with outdoor and indoor lounges and a small restaurant scheduled to open next month. The whole area will feature Malaysian food developed by Zak Pelaccio, the chef of 5 Ninth and Fatty Crab. Mr. Ong plans to develop desserts stuffed in the pastries Thais use to make “curry puffs,” which are their equivalent of samosas.

DEEP BREATH Hookahs seem to be in fashion this week. Turks & Frogs Tribeca (458 Greenwich St., between Watts and Desbrosses streets, 212-966-4774) opened on Monday in a former stonemason’s studio, with a wine cellar downstairs where use of the bong-like devices will be available for smoking fruit-flavored tobacco. And Moomia (157 Lafayette St., between Ho ward and Grand streets, 212-219-4006), which opened at the end of last year and offers 17 different flavors for its hookahs, recently opened a downstairs lounge that seats 100 people.

BRAND-NEW BRUNCHES You have two more brunch options this weekend. Xing (785 Ninth Ave, between 52nd and 53rd streets, 646-289-3010) is kicking off its new meal by giving free brunch to the first 50 people through the door on Saturday, and it’s doing it again on Sunday. Everyone can have all they can drink for $12. Brunch starts at 11 a.m. and features the crosscultural food of Albanian-born chef Lulzim Rexhepi, whose culinary training is a combination of Italian, French, and Thai. His eggs benedict ($9) come with ginger-salmon gravlax and ginger-infused hollandaise. Dim Sum and other Chinese dishes are on offer as well.

Urena (37 E. 28th St., between Park and Madison a venues, 212-213-2328) also starts brunch service this weekend, at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Omelet options include duck confit with morcilla ($14) and eggs benedict ($12) is a poached egg with chorizo cular on a biscuit, topped with hollandaise sauce.

BEER & DINNER Riingo (205 E. 45th St., between Second and Third a venues, 212-867-4200) is featuring the beer of Cisco Brewers of Nantucket and serving a special menu from Monday, April 17, through April 24 pairing chef Johan Svensson’s cuisine with different Cisco beers. Diners who order the menu next week get a free 25.4-ounce bottle of beer brewed by Cisco and bearing a signature Riingo label. The dinner is $55.

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