Building Plans Filed for New Restaurant on Elm Street, ‘The South End Uncorked’

Town building officials are reviewing plans for an interior renovation at 15 Elm St., currently the home of Picador restaurant. Plans filed Jan. 5 at the New Canaan Building Department call for $55,000 in upgrades for a new restaurant called ‘The South End Uncorked.’ The applicant is Nick Martschenko, chef and proprietor at South End, the hugely popular restaurant on Pine Street. Respecting the process by which the current occupant at 15 Elm St. may wind down, Martschenko deferred to the owners of Picador—a highly rated restaurant that opened in January 2013—when reached by NewCanaanite.com.

PHOTOS: ‘Absolut Kuba!’ Opens at Carriage Barn Arts Center

Steve Certilman of Greenwich has spent more than 15 years visiting Cuba at least annually, forging long-term relationships with artists whose work he admires and scouring Havana and environs for emerging painters, sculptors, assemblage artists and others. On Saturday, about 80 of the pieces that Certilman has amassed—roughly one-third of his private collection—went on display in “Absolut Kuba!” at Carriage Barn Arts Center. Featuring about 50 artists’ work, the free exhibition marks the first-ever public showing of the diverse collection. According to Arianne Kolb, co-director of the Carriage Barn Arts Center and, with Certilman, curator of the exhibition, “Absolut Kuba!” is a chance to experience about 20 years’ in Cuban art in person without physically going there. “Unless you are planning on going to Cuba regularly or planning to go in the near future, this is a rare opportunity to see an incredible, really well-chosen assemblage of contemporary art that has been produced over the last 20 years,” Kolb said as dozens of appreciators moved through the roomy gallery in Waveny for the opening reception.