••• “The Rum House was a shabby little piano bar off the lobby of the Edison Hotel on 47th Street west of Seventh Avenue, marvelous in its way as a place to stop in before a show for a whiskey sour. […] Now it rises again. Next week, the Rum House will re-open under the ownership and management of Michael Neff, Kenneth McCoy and Abdul Tabini, the owners of the bespoke cocktail bar Ward III in Tribeca. The piano remains, said Kate Telfeyan, a spokeswoman for the owners, as do some vestiges of the original nautical theme—including the immense circular lighting fixture over the bar itself. There are still 60 seats. There will be performances, the owners say, at least five nights a week.” (New York Times)

••• “Looks like Clay Oven will finally be opening on Maiden Lane next week with soft open Wed and Thurs and grand opening Fri.” (@nycdowntowndiva)

••• The New York Times files a “Dining Brief” review of Mehtaphor (left): “The food seems constrained, too, although for the most part, it is delicious: beef tartare mined with chilies, the heat allayed by guacamole sorbet ($12); an unlikely but happy marriage of crab and truffle goat cheese on a puff-pastry pizza ($12); shaved foie gras with raspberry compote on toast, a grown-up P. B. & J. ($12). Whose heart does not leap at the sight of perfectly cooked eggs? Here, they come shirred, the yolks shimmying atop tomatoes wanton with cinnamon ($17), smelling like Christmas. [Block that metaphor! Pun intended! —Ed.] One favor, Mr. Mehta: please add bread, for sopping up.”

••• “Cadaver enthusiasts will have to trek outside Manhattan to get their fix for the next few weeks, since the long-running Bodies exhibit in the South Street Seaport has closed temporarily. ‘Bodies…The Exhibition’ shuttered Jan. 2 for an extensive renovation and will reopen Feb. 4, according to parent company Premier Exhibitions.” (DNAinfo)

••• Daily Candy and Well + Good file (!) on new nail salon Tenoverten. Daily Candy: “Book a Wednesday or Saturday when Jimena Garcia (the superlative eyebrow and eyelash specialist) is in house.”

••• “In the wake of the controversy over the so-called ‘Ground Zero mosque,’ a Tribeca gallery is showcasing photos of Albanian Muslims who risked their lives to save Jews during World War II. The 30 portraits at Soho Photo Gallery on White Street, accompanied by their subjects’ stories, speak powerfully to the quiet heroism of Muslims who hid more than 2,000 Jews from the Nazis 70 years ago.” (DNAinfo)

••• “A sleek and funky spaceship has landed in Tribeca at Soho Rep. The glittery hatch opens, and who struts out but the inimitable Jomama Jones. What? You don’t know this mythical soul diva from the 80s? After her fabulous comeback concert, you will.” (NY1)

••• Downtown Express drops in on Capri Caffé.

••• The New York Academy of Sciences is running a Science and the City lecture series on the 40th floor of 7 World Trade. (Downtown Express)

••• Oliver E. Allen wrote an interesting about Richard Varick, the eponym behind Varick St., in the Tribeca Trib, but it doesn’t appear to be online.