HELL'S KITCHEN — A rooftop lounge with a revamped Mexican menu will open a block from the Hudson on Cinco de Mayo.
Cantina Rooftop, the newest incarnation of an open bar and restaurant at 605 W. 48th St., will serve modern Mexican food, hard-to-find tequilas and creative margaritas.
Executive chef and Mexico City native Gonzolo Colin will cook the food of his home country. Menu highlights include barbacoa de carnero, a maguey-braised lamb shank with guajillo chile sauce, and pollo campestre, chicken in "Grandma’s Mole Negro" served with green rice.
Signature cocktails include the Cantina Margarita, made with Fidencio Mezcal, fresh lemon juice, agave nectar and Tajin spice rum; and the Tequila Sunset, with Tromba Blanco tequila, mango puree, lime juice, cava and Aperol.
The 80-person outdoor dining area has a retractable roof, which will be open whenever weather permits, spokeswoman Marie Assante said. A DJ will play music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights for those inclined to bust a move.
Initially planned as a three-floor Latin club that would fill the former Copacabana's dancing shoes, the scaled-down restaurant atop Stage 48 opened in 2013 as Z Bar.
