URBAN COWBOY Fort Worth, Tex., chef Tim Love is opening a restaurant in New York. The Lonesome Dove is scheduled to begin operating this September on West 21st Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. The restaurant will feature “urban Western cuisine,” including wild game and game fish. The Lonesome Dove’s Fort Worth location has an average check of $70 a person.

MORE MAREMMA Chef Cesare Casella has revamped the menu at Maremma (228 W. 10th St., between Bleecker and Hudson streets, 212-645-0200 ). The chef says the fare he was offering, a fusion of Tuscan and his vision of “cowboy cuisine,” was not selling. Now the menu is straight-up Italian with a heavy Tuscan accent.

TUSCAN SON Expect more Tuscan fare at ‘Cesca (164 W. 75th St. at Amsterdam Avenue, 212-787-6300 ), too. Kevin Garcia, who until last month was chef de cuisine at Mario Batali’s newest restaurant, Del Posto, is now executive chef at ‘Cesca, replacing Tom Valenti.

Mr. Garcia, an Upper West Side native, worked under Cesare Casella, and also was at Coco Pazzo, the flagship of Tuscan chef-restaurateur Pino Luongo, for five years.

He has spent time working in the Tuscan city of Luca, too.

“What I love about Tuscan cuisine is that it’s soulful food, it’s traditional food. It has a reason,” Mr. Garcia said. “It was created by peasants but fit for kings and queens.”

He plans to change the menu gradually, however.

“I’m still really feeling out the Upper West Side clientele,” he said. He’s experimenting by running specials, getting feedback, and adding the items to the menu if the feedback is good. You can also expect more use of infused oils at ‘Cesca, something Mr. Garcia learned from Jean-Georges Vongerichten when working at his Prime Steakhouse in Las Vegas.

JUST HARRY The restaurant formerly known as Harry’s at Hanover Square (One Hanover Square, between Stone and Pearl streets, 212-785-9200 ) will officially reopen this Friday as Harry’s. It will have two sections, a mainstream, 150-seat cafe with entrees in the $20 range, and a 70-seat steakhouse.

Owner Peter Poulakakos said the decor of the space has been updated: The mahogany has been replaced by black American walnut, more copper and leather, and spot lighting as well as halogen track lights highlighting some of the old stone and brick walls and steel that were revealed during the renovation.

“Even though it’s more modern in a lot of ways, it’s more historic than even Harry’s was, because we got to the true elements of the building,” he says.

WEST BEGINNING Another historic restaurant, West End Bar (2909 Broadway, between 113th and 114th streets, 212-662-8830 ), has been taken over by Jeremy Merrin, who owns Havana Central, with locations in Times Square and Union Square.

The former hangout of beat poets, anti-Vietnam war protestors, and many thirsty Columbia University students will close shortly after Independence Day for a revamp and open as Havana Central at the West End in mid-August.

The traditional bar-food menu will be upgraded, and the current Mexican fare will be replaced by Cuban classics such as arroz con pollo, ropa vieja, and fried plantains.

“When I was a kid, the West End had the best burgers in New York, and when we reopen we’re going to have that again,” Mr. Merrin said.

The front room will be cleaned up, and the bar built up to hold more alcohol, but the feel will remain the same. The back room will be enlarged and have a more Cuban feel.

Jazz brunches will be offered on Sundays. Live Latin music will play on Fridays.

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