EAST SIDE CHANGE An alumnus of the Bobby Flay circle, Rebecca Weitzman (who was most recently a sous chef at Bar Américain and, before that, an executive chef of Café Star in Denver) is the new chef de cuisine at ‘inoteca (98 Rivington St. at Ludlow Street, 212-614-0473). She replaces Michael Berardino, who left to work on the launch of Bar Milano, which is owned by the same group and likely to open on April 7.

TRIBECA SOUTHERN At Duane Park Café (157 Duane St., between West Broadway and Hudson Street, 212-732-5555), chef Shawn Knight, formerly of Natchez, is serving Southern-influenced American food, such as barbecued quail with a salad of black-eyed peas and farro.

NOODLE SPAWN Noodle Bar in the West Village is holding a soft opening of its Lower East Side sister restaurant this week (172 Orchard St. at Stanton Street, 212-228-9833). The grand opening will be April 8.

THE ART OF THE SIP Another West Village shop, Joe, the Art of Coffee, opened a location in Chelsea (405 W. 23rd St., between Ninth and Tenth avenues, 212-206-0669) two days ago.

CHOCOLATE, OPERA, ART This Friday, visitors to the New-York Historical Society (170 Central Park West, between 76th and 77th streets, 212-873-3400) between 6 and 8 p.m. get free admission — and the opportunity to buy chocolates and pastries from Upper West Side bakery Soutine while listening to soprano Juliana Janes-Yaffé. The event is in celebration of the society’s ongoing exhibit, “French Founding Father: Lafayette’s Return to Washington’s America,” which commemorates Marquis de Lafayette’s 250th birthday, and explores his role in the American Revolution as well as his yearlong 1824 visit to this nation.

BACK TO BLT Sommelier Fred Dexheimer, who left Laurent BLT Restaurant Group early last year to join importer T Edward Wines, has returned to BLT as the national wine and beverage director.

JAMES BEARD HONORS Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, Terrance Brennan of Picholine, David Chang of the Momofuku restaurants, Wylie Dufresne of WD-50, and Gabriel Kreuther of the Modern were nominated as the best chefs in New York by the James Beard Foundation. The nomination ceremony was held Monday.

Among other nods to New York cuisine, Anthos in Midtown was nominated in the Nation’s Best New Restaurant category. Gavin Kaysen of Café Boulud on the Upper East Side is in the running for Rising Star Chef, which honors chefs who are age 30 or younger.

Dan Barber of Blue Hill was nominated for Outstanding Chef, and Gramercy Tavern and Jean Georges were nominated for Outstanding Restaurant.

Pastry chef nominees from New York include Gina DePalma of Babbo and Pichet Ong of P*ONG and Batch.

Eleven Madison Park was nominated for its wine service. The team of Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali, as well as Jean-Georges Vongerichten, are on the short list for Outstanding Restaurateurs.

Outstanding Restaurant Design nominees are all for projects in Gotham: Centovini, Adour, and Morimoto.

Mr. Thorn is food editor of Nation’s Restaurant News. He maintains nrnfoodwriter.blogspot.com.