The simpler, the better

The start of a new year, still clouded by the recession, is a fitting time to purge. And it may bring better focus, more profit, more savings, or just freedom. Get rid of excess shoes, books, gadgets or, as in the case of the Brooklyn Museum, precious artifacts.

The museum decided to declutter the overstuffed closets of items it acquired when it hoped to become the biggest museum in the world. It is preparing to return 4,500 pre-Columbian treasures taken from Costa Rica about a century ago, culling its collection to reduce storage costs and conserve staff members' time. Kevin Stayton, the Brooklyn Museum's chief curator, told The Times it was an effort, in a time of strained budgets, to make sure "we're not overextending ourselves."

This tighter focus is on the menu. Literally. Restaurants trained on a single dish or a niche ingredient are popping up all over, especially in New York. The Meatball Shop has a menu built around, well, meatballs. Hill Country Chicken has one entrée: fried chicken. And the first outlet of a Brazil-based mini-chain called The Best Chocolate Cake in the World opened in SoHo last year.