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Read the press release here.

Chef Michael White Plans 'Butterfly' Supper Club in TriBeCa

By Julie Shapiro | March 15, 2012 12:28pm
Chef Michael White is planning a new restaurant at 225 W. Broadway in TriBeCa.
Chef Michael White is planning a new restaurant at 225 W. Broadway in TriBeCa.
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Brian Bedder/Getty Images

TRIBECA — A new restaurant by renowned Marea chef Michael White is on the way to TriBeCa.

At a public meeting Wednesday night, White's team said the restaurant's menu would give him a chance to return to his Midwestern roots, a Community Board 1 representative said.

White's associates presented a preliminary menu featuring fried cheese curds and Norwegian meatballs — a major departure for White, who is known for his haute Italian cuisine at Marea, Osteria Morini and Ai Fiori.

On Thursday morning, though, White's spokeswoman described the new restaurant, called "The Butterfly," as "a mid-century style cocktail bar with a supper club feel." She said the Midwestern-themed menu presented to Community Board 1 was inaccurate but declined to provide an updated version.

Chef Michael White is converting 225 W. Broadway into The Butterfly, a new supper club.
Chef Michael White is converting 225 W. Broadway into The Butterfly, a new supper club.
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Tribeca Citizen

The restaurant, at 225 West Broadway, will have "a limited food menu [that] will compliment cocktails and will focus on traditional American classics, i.e., a great steak, burger, fried chicken," the spokeswoman said in an email.

The Butterfly will also feature weekday supper specials including prime rib dinners on Wednesdays and a fish fry on Fridays, the spokeswoman said.

White will be at the helm in the kitchen and Eben Freeman, head of bar operations and innovation at White's Altamarea Group, will design the cocktails.

Community Board 1's Tribeca Committee voted Wednesday night to approve The Butterfly's liquor license, with closing hours of 1 a.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends, Tribeca Citizen reported.

The 55-seat restaurant, located in the former Barzinho space, is scheduled to open this summer.