355 West 46th Street (New York City, New York)

 apartment building, commercial building

3-story residential building completed in 1885 as the westernmost of a row of eight matching rowhouses. Like the others, it has a 3-bay facade and a high stoop on the left leading to a parlor-floor entrance. To the right of the stoop the raised English basement has been converted to a restaurant space, with wood-and-glass French doors, tile on the sidewall and patio area, and a light-grey, projecting, stuccoed sign board above.

The main entrance has a wood-and-glass door framed by green-painted pilasters, with a transom on top shielded by an angled green awning, and topped by an entablature with cornice. The brownstone facade is painted pale yellow , and the windows to the right of the entrance have been replaced with openings to a projecting, enclosed space above the signboard below; it is enclosed by green wood-and-metal roof, with green vinyl sheeting with clear vinyl windows, providing extra space for the restaurant.

The two upper floors have three bays of windows that retain their original projecting surrounds, painted green. A vertical banner is hung from a horizontal pole attached to the facade at the top floor between the two western bays. The facade is crowned by a black metal roof cornice with brackets and panels. The basement and parlor-floor levels are occupied by Becco restaurant, which also expands into the basement space of the building to the west. The name Becco is derived from the Italian verb, beccare, which means to peck, nibble, or savor something in a discriminating way. Lidia Bastianich & her son, Joe, opened the restaurant here in 1993.