Print Marianna Caldwell’s favorite seat in the house is gone, but its removal brought Cassia one step closer to reopening the dining room. The sommelier and general manager of the Southeast Asian restaurant loved to perch at the seafood counter, where she’d observe cooks shucking oysters and readying crab claws while she people-watched and felt the hum of conversation bounce off the industrial-modern ceiling. But for nearly a year Cassia’s seats at raw bar — and every other indoor table — sat vacant as restaurants and bars reeled and pivoted throughout COVID-19. Now, at the start of the yellow tier, Cassia and other restaurants that have waited to reopen their dining rooms are unveiling renovations, improvements, new menus and even entire concept changes that their teams spent weeks or months planning.