Entertainment

Editor's note: Many readers lamented last year when Guide discontinued its column that featured restaurant openings and closings and other dining-related news. This marks the column's return. Penned by food-writer-in-the-know Kim Harwell, it will run every other week in the Friday print Guide and online at GuideLive.com/restaurants.

Spring cleaning

Spring has sprung at the Mansion Restaurant. Executive chef John Tesar has unveiled new lunch and dinner menus, with dishes that include chilled English pea soup with mango crab salad, Maine fluke sashimi with uni, leek and curry-infused baby turbot, and rack of Niman Ranch lamb with chickpea panzanella salad. There's also a new dessert menu and a list of refreshing specialty drinks for patio sipping (lavender mojito, anyone?). Check out the Mansion patio at a Moet & Chandon complimentary cocktail hour on April 7 from 6 to 7 p.m. There will be complimentary Moet champagne cocktails. Seating is limited.

Making a splash

The Sushi Bar is the simple yet evocative name of a new Japanese fusion restaurant inside the Clarion Park Central Hotel at LBJ Freeway and Central Expressway. Not surprisingly, the new venture offers an array of sushi, sashimi and specialty rolls, as well as traditional cooked Japanese entrees and such trendy new must-tries as uni shooters and ahi tuna towers. Executive chef Il Sung Jung was previously with Blue Fish, Edohana and Tokyo Sushi.

Go fish

Noted Dallas restaurateur Alberto Lombardi ( Taverna, Cafe Toulouse, La Cubanita) hopes to continue his recent winning streak with a new, as-yet-unnamed Italian seafood restaurant scheduled to open this May in West Village. Mr. Lombardi's previous concepts included Lombardi Mare, an upscale eatery in Addison's Village on the Parkway that also specialized in Italian seafood. His new venture will occupy the space that currently houses Ferré, which is closing (though the Fort Worth location of Ferré will remain open).

New chef on the block

Cafe Toulouse and Bar has a new executive chef on board: Paris native Yoanne Lardeux. The classically trained chef cooked throughout Europe before manning the stoves in a number of Colorado restaurants, including the Left Bank, Le Central and Frasca. Mr. Lardeaux replaces former chef Colleen O'Hare.

Heading north

Look for a new location of Naan restaurant this spring in Allen. Founder Sasha Kim, who opened her popular Shops at Legacy eatery 4 ½ years ago, has sold the original Plano location of the contemporary Korean eatery (though the name will remain the same) and plans to open a new branch in the Watters Creek development within the next two months.

Roll with it

Arizona-based Ra Sushi has made its area debut in the Shops at Legacy. The Plano opening marks the 18th location of the hipster-friendly Japanese restaurant and bar, known for signature sushi rolls including the Yellow Monkey Roll (roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes and cream cheese topped with mango, cashews and kiwi wasabi sauce) and the Tootsy Maki (crab, shrimp and cucumber drizzled with sweet eel sauce). The restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner.

Early bird special

Looking for quick eats before a game at American Airlines Center or simply want to finish your dinner before American Idol comes on? Palomino in the Rosewood Crescent hotel is offering a three-course, fixed-price meal for $20. Choices include soup or Caesar salad to start; a range of entrees such as as four-cheese pizza, grilled chicken and rigatoni Bolognese; and sorbet or tiramisu for dessert. The special is available every evening except Fridays for seatings between 5:30 and 6. An added bonus: Sports fans heading to AAC can catch the restaurant's shuttle to and from the arena. Getting home in time to catch Simon Cowell's snarky American Idol witticisms is up to you.

Bring me something Yumi

We love pizza as much as the next guy, but maybe it's time to give the Domino's deliveryman a break. Call YumiToGo and you can have contemporary Asian cuisine brought to your house or office for lunch or dinner – provided you're located in the Highland Park, Oak Lawn or Uptown area. The two-month-old eatery offers healthful takes on such standards as sweet-and-sour pork, beef and broccoli, and chicken lo mein, delivered to your door in the lime green "Yumi mobile." Trying to watch what you're eating? Go online to yumitogo.com after placing your order to see your meal being prepared via Yumi-cam.

Kim Harwell is a Dallas freelance food writer.