What's new in metro dining

My friend's text got right to it: "So, Chambers. Still chic?"

Um, not really. The D'Amico empire has taken over Jean-Georges Vongerichten's former Chambers Kitchen stamping grounds, and while the new and more relaxed D'Amico Kitchen has warmed the art museum chilliness of its predecessor, it's still plenty attractive.

The isolating basement dining room is history -- a smart move -- with seating now squeezed into what had been a first-floor lounge. Rose- and blue-tinted plaster walls, a display wine case and a cadre of colorful chandeliers (a sparkly crystal fixture resurrected from the former D'Amico Cucina is a sweet touch) defrost the Chambers' icy white-on-white palette.

Chef John Occhiato also made the Cucina-to-Chambers move, and while regulars may recognize a few greatest hits (cracker-crust pizzas, almond crêpes and a Friday-night-only lobster gnocchi), his D'Amico Kitchen menu is pretty much a whole new ballgame. It leads off with two dozen smallish plates ($8 to $11), including spicy lamb meatballs, sliced hamachi finished with tangerine-inflused oil, fried cauliflower florets with an anchovy-laced mayonnaise, saffron-scented risotto balls filled with pieces of roasted veal and a plate of roasted beets dressed in a pumpkinseed vinaigrette.

Pastas (two sizes, $9 or $18) include a carbonara with pancetta and fava beans, ricotta- and chèvre-filled ravioli, farfalle with braised rabbit and peas and spaghetti tossed with clams and sausage. Entrees ($10 to $29) cover the hotel dining-room waters: chicken, steak, short ribs, walleye, a burger. Sunday through Thursday the kitchen offers three courses (starter, entree-sized pasta and dessert) for $32, and the Italian-focused wine list includes a dozen by-the-glass options averaging $10.

For the first time in his career, Occhiato is serving breakfast (entrees $11 to $16). His morning menu features crostini topped with house-made-ricotta and prosciutto, a tomato-fontina gratin, house-made sausages, poached eggs with speck and a parmesan hollandaise, and lemon-ricotta pancakes topped with strawberries macerated in basil. "It's not Italian, but it's what an Italian might do if they were integrated into American-style food," he said.

901 Hennepin Av. S., Minneapolis, 612-767-6960, www.chambersminneapolis.com. Open 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday- Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Minneapolis has far too few eating and drinking venues that capitalize on the city's much-vaunted park system. That is why I'm hoping that the Loring Kitchen & Bar will start a trend.

It's a shame that the restaurant, a much hipper sibling to Birch's in Long Lake, didn't open in, say, May, because it embraces its surroundings in a big way. The long, rectangular dining room flaunts its Loring Park views from just about every table. (It's quite a view, too: the 126-year-old park, originally called Central Park but named for Charles Loring, the "father of Minneapolis parks," in 1890, has never looked better.)

The bar goes one step further, splitting its imprint between indoors and outdoors, where it faces a table-lined, open-air loggia. There's a second patio, nicely sheltered in the courtyard of the swank apartment building above the restaurant. The whole shebang might be the city's new standard in outdoor dining venues.

Chef Eric Strathy puts a modern twist on classic American comfort food. Entrees ($15 to $29) include a pan-fried half chicken with fries and coleslaw, seared tuna with wasabi-laced whipped potatoes, beer-braised short ribs and butter-baked walleye. Oblong pizzas ($10 to $13) get the liberally covered treatment. Along with a half-pound burger ($10) served with long list of mix-and-match options (fried egg, caramelized onions, bacon, five different cheeses, each $1), there's a Sunday church picnic-inspired burger ($13) made with cornmeal-crusted ground chicken and topped with a layer of mashed potatoes, sweet corn and coleslaw.

Strathy puts his heart into a series of small plates ($5 to $8) done up in share-able portions: blinis topped with smoked chicken and roasted sweet corn, a corn pancake dressed with smoked trout, layers of roasted beets and sliced scallops, crab cakes and grilled meatloaf. Weekends turn into a casual breakfast-lunch service, and the simple desserts (cheesecake, caramel-drizzled chocolate layer cake) are produced by the Salty Tart in Minneapolis.

1359 Willow St., Minneapolis, 612-843-0400, www.loringkitchen.com. Open 4 to close on weekdays and 8 a.m. to close Saturday and Sunday.

Raghavan Iyer is finally putting his degree in hotel and restaurant management to use. The cookbook author, cooking teacher and caterer has partnered with Randy Norman (formerly of the Capital Grille and r.Norman's) to open OM Restaurant, and their ambitious collaboration is unlike any other Indian restaurant in the Twin Cities. Trust me, this isn't your basic mom-and-pop curry house.

Iyer's cooking emphasizes complex spice combinations, fresh ingredients and looky presentations. The party planner in him offers small platters of one- and two-bite appetizers such as phyllo cups filled with mint- and ginger-kissed potatoes and peas, garlic-marinated roasted chicken with a cashew-raisin sauce and crispy potato cakes filled with chiles and onion and finished with a cilantro chutney. Naans, hot from the tandoor, as well as thin lentil cakes and chickpea flour crêpes straight off the grill, are served in paper cones with a side of slow-burn pickled mangoes.

Iyer and chef de cuisine Jaime Sierra keep their menu approachable for experiment-averse Minnesotans by marrying Indian flavors with traditional American staples (walleye with cumin and coriander, plush salmon seared with turmeric and poached in coconut milk, lamb rubbed with black cardamom), and for vegetarians he offers a pot-pie style casserole and saffron-scented paneer served with a golden raisin-red chile sauce. Entree prices average $21, most starters and sides fall in the $6 to $12 range, and the don't-miss breads are $3 and $4.

The two-story space ("Is it more Chino Latino or Porter & Frye?" debated my friends, referencing successful and not-so-successful examples of the genre) starts with a jewel-toned street-level lounge. A dramatic helix-shaped chandelier and an entrance-making staircase direct diners down to a rather vast dining room done up in shades of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger; the darkness -- truly, the lighting is dimmer than the Guthrie's public spaces -- is pierced by several well-placed clerestory windows. Upstairs, the bar shakes up all manner of showy cocktails (order the cilantro-kissed "Slumdog") as well as 17 by-the-glass wine options.

401 1st Av. N., Minneapolis, 612-338-1510, www.omminneapolis.com/. Open 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 4:30 to 11:30 Friday and Saturday.