Openings & Closings: Panineria; Metro Frame Art; Mango; Picnic by the Black Parrot; Sprinkle It; Emerald Inn

By Lisa Kava and Sara Lewin Lebwohl

Panineria, a panini and sandwich shop, opened for takeout and delivery on December 1st at 616 Amsterdam Avenue (at West 89th Street). The restaurant will be open for seating and service in late December or early January, a manager told West Side Rag on a visit to the cafe. Panineria serves a variety of paninis including: goat cheese with onion, four cheese, grilled chicken, mozzarella, and sauteed mushroom.  The menu also includes the option to make your own sandwich, as well as salads and pasta dishes. It is a family-owned business with a mission to “offer a healthy, balanced, and delicious dining experience for meat lovers, vegetarians, and vegans alike,” according to the restaurant’s website.

This is the third location for Panineria; the other two are also in Manhattan, on the Upper East Side and in Greenwich Village. Edible Arrangements, which sold candy, gift boxes, and flowers was previously in the space. (Thanks to Jeff and Maya for the tip.)

Metro Frame Art,  a custom framing shop at 211 West 92nd Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue), closed its Upper West Side location on December 1st, consolidating with Art & Frame of New York on the Upper East Side. Both frame shops are owned by Bo Okuyan. Metro Frame Art had been in the Upper West Side space since 1990, Okuyan told West Side Rag on a phone call. He will continue to sell custom frames for artwork and photographs at the Upper East Side store, which offers the same framing services as Metro Frame Art. He hopes to reopen a store on the Upper West Side at a future date, but at the moment nothing is set. (Thanks to Jeff for the tip.)

Mango, the Barcelona-based department store, opened its “flagship” United States store at 1976 Broadway (between West 66th and West 67th streets), on November 26th. This is the fourth store in NYC for Mango which sells clothing for men, women, and children. Other  locations are in Soho, Hudson Yards, and Greenwich Village. The new Upper West Side store features Mango’s  “New-Med” store concept: a design “distinguished by interiors with luminous, neutral tones built from enveloping and organic lines,” meant to make the store feel like a Mediterranean-style home. The last tenant in the space was Banana Republic which closed in 2021. (Thanks to Laura for the tip.)

Picnic by The Black Parrot, a kosher American bistro, is expected to open in February  at 116 West 106th Street (off Amsterdam Avenue). The owner is Meir Levy, a restaurant industry veteran who grew up cooking, trained in culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University, and has spent over a decade working in professional kitchens with the goal of opening his own restaurant. Menu ideas in development include wings, burgers, a fried chicken sandwich, and a chicken-Marsala-pot-pie hybrid, Levy told West Side Rag in a phone interview. He has plans for “late night service, to fill a gap in kosher options after 10 p.m.”

Picnic by The Black Parrot is meant to be the casual sibling to a future, fine dining restaurant called The Black Parrot, Levy explained. The name is inspired by a striking tulip he was captivated by at the New York Botanical Garden. Makana, a Hawaiian restaurant, was the last tenant in the space.

Sprinkle It, an ice cream shop, has signage up at 2104 Frederick Douglass Blvd (at West 114th Street). We will update when we have more information and an expected opening date. (Thanks to Gary for the photo and tip.)

ICYMI: Emerald Inn, the longtime Irish pub at 250 West 72nd Street (between Broadway and West End Avenue), is permanently closing on Wednesday December 3rd. Read West Side Rag’s coverage of this story here.

Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.