(Photo: Mitchell Feinberg)

The Best Bet
Does Thomas Keller do casual? See for yourself next week, when he opens the second Bouchon Bakery (the original is in Las Vegas), which means that mere mortals can now afford to tuck into something other than a Jamba Juice while traipsing through the Time Warner Center. One floor beneath Per Se, the 60-seat café occupies some surprisingly exposed real estate (in the hallway outside the Aveda boutique), which is sure to become a foodie scrum. Boulangerie-style fare, like roast-pork-tonnato tartine and three-bean soup with rosemary pistou, are also available for takeout at the nearby retail counter, where Per Se pastry chef Sébastien Rouxel presides over the production of everything from croissants to “Nutter Butters” (10 Columbus Circle, at 59th St., third fl.; 212-823-9366; opens March 13).—Rob Patronite