San Sebastian, Meet Frank. Frank, Meet San Sebastian.

The Lower East Side outpost of Frankies shut their doors earlier this week for a quick makeover.  They will reopen tonight as Francesca, a Basque-style restaurant headed by chef Ryan Bartlow.  He made the move from Frankies 570, on Hudson Street, to the new-old location at 17 Clinton Street.  His experience working at Akelarre, a three-Michellin-star restaurant in San Sebastian, shows on Francesca's menu.  There's an attached glossary that will conveniently save the servers the hassle of answering the same question 7,318 times a night.  Good move.

Katie O'Donnell, formerly of Esca, has taken over at 570.

Parma to Iberico; Frankies 17 Switches Hams March 23rd

Katie O'Donnell left Esca and went to work with the Franks.  She replaced Ryan Bartlow at Frankies 570.  Bartlow, who knows a thing or two about Spanish food, is going to the L.E.S. Frankies at 17 Clinton Street.

The restaurant is going to close March 21st, see a two day, Restaurant Impossible-style makeover, and open on the 23rd as a Basque restaurant dubbed Francesca.