Karu & Y Tries Again

I could never get it straight: Was Karu the restaurant and Y the lounge, or vice versa? No matter now, as the reopened venue's newly christened restaurant name is Seecomar's at Karu & Y, which I thought was a misspelling of Seacomber's until I saw that the new owner's name is Clive Seecomar.

Karu's (or Y's) executive chef was Arturo Paz (pictured above), who returns in the same capacity at Seecomar's. The menu is different, although stylistically in sync with Paz' past work -- he tends to utilize at least a few potently flavored ingredients in each dish. For instance, here's an old Karu dish of seared diver scallops with rice, pastrami, fried egg and cucumber salad:

Seecomar's offers a starter of pastrami-crusted beef carpaccio with shaved fennel and truffles ($18), and a main course of spice-rubbed ostrich with Manchego-flecked polenta, oyster mushrooms and Ribera del Duero sauce ($34). Sushi chef Hugo Meza puts out a short but creative menu with offerings such as the Clive roll of green curried tuna, scallions, avocado, spicy mayo and sriracha sauce ($20) -- and a Hawaiian roll with shrimp tempura, cream cheese, baked pineapple skin, mango salsa and yuzu syrup ($18).

--Lee Klein

• First Look