iara is a Brazilian open-kitchen restaurant inspired by the Amazon Rainforest, opening this Fall at 205 Allen Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, from Chef/Owner Vitor Mendes who most recently was Theodora’s chef de cuisine. Named for the water goddess of Amazonian legend, the 50-seat restaurant is Mendes' first as owner. iara sets out to be New York's only table in the Amazon. The menu at iara is grounded in ingredients native to the Brazilian Amazon: açaí, cassava, jambu, and tucupi. Dishes arrive in a share-forward format, plated in line with New York's seasons, ranging from small welcome bites to large-format mains for the table. Designed by the New York-based practice Studio WDM and its Brazilian-born principals, William DeMoraes and Luisa Farani, the design draws from the Amazon at its source: the soil rather than the canopy. A palette of deep terracotta, clay, chocolate brown, and burnt orange establishes a warm, enveloping presence, punctuated by touches of green. At the heart of the space is an open chef's counter that anchors the room.