Written and reported by Alexis L. Loinaz, Matt Rodbard, Rebecca Marx, Edith Zimmerman and Jeremy Cesarec
Naya
1057 Second Ave. between 55th and 56th Sts.
With stints at Daniel and Payard, there's no doubt that Naya owner Hady Kfoury has got the technical chops and upscale pedigree to serve an $18 chicken shawarma at his new Midtown East homage to classic Lebanese cooking. "The beef, which comes from DeBragga and Spitler, is marinated overnight in imported spices that I have been compiling for months and cooked medium-well on a skewer," says Kfoury of his pocket sandwich served atop a pita with vegetables and tahini sauce. Traditional meat and vegetarian mezze (labné, grape leaves) and kebabs round out the menu. (September)
Bloomingdale Road
2398 Broadway at 88th St.
Onetime UWS French mainstay Aix, which got the ax in February, is now reborn as this modern American eatery helmed by Ed Witt. The ex-Il Buco chef, who tells us he's shooting for a "balance between foodie-chef-y stuff and comfort-y stuff," plans to serve up small plates that riff on traditional American faves, with dishes like country fried quail with white gravy and biscuit, and smoked sausage with duck terrine. The restaurant itself is now more expansive: A kitchen wall was knocked down to make way for a chef's table, and the new bar is double the size of Aix's. (September)
The Oak Room
768 5th Avenue, between 58th and 59th Sts., 212-758-7777
"The city's biggest restaurant-world guessing game is over," wrote The Post's Steve Cuozzo in February when award-winning Atlanta chef Joël Antunes was named the Oak Room's post-renovation chef. Antunes, a Beard Award recipient, will serve upscale American classics like dry-aged rib eye, turbot and abalone, with daily specials and homemade pastries. But will Antunes be foraging nearby Central Park for fresh herbs? "Um, not yet," says the chef laughing after an awkward pause. "There are so many amazing food purveyors in New York. The good ingredients are easy to find." (September)
Kefi
505 Columbus Ave. between 84th and 85th Sts.
Michael Psilakis is moving on up, and now, so is the restaurant that helped to put him on the map. He and his partner, Donatella Arpaia, are relocating Kefi from its somewhat cozy 79th Street digs to a larger space on Columbus Avenue. While the new location will be almost four times larger, it'll still offer the kind of casual, traditional Greek dishes that defined Psilakis' childhood (sheep's milk dumplings, pork souvlaki), along with some new additions. Stay tuned for new developments at the old Kefi space: Psilakis is rumored to be toying with a grill-oriented concept. (September)
Pranna
79 Madison Ave, at 28th St.
Long Island restaurateurs Payal and Rajiv Sharma make their Manhattan debut with this pan-Asian spot focusing on the cuisines of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and India. The menu will reflect the travels of Indian-born executive chef Chai Trivedi, who worked under Patricia Yeo at Sapa. Pranna, which means "life force" in Sanskrit, will also feature a cocktail menu designed to complement offerings like grilled satay and Asian-inspired sliders, which will vary in spice and intensity. (September)
Opus
1574 Second Ave. at 82nd St.
How about this for a twist: a trattoria-style menu full of pizzas and pasta—80 percent of it gluten-free. Manager Enzo Lentini says the idea is to offer delicious food for the growing number of diners with gluten allergies so they no longer have to "feel like lepers." To make sure verboten ingredients don't accidentally cross-contaminate, the kitchen has a separate prep station for non-gluten dishes. If the food's as good as the intentions, Opus should be a hit for the city's Celiac set, as well as their hangers-on. (September)
Village Pourhouse
982 Amsterdam Ave. between 108th and 109th Sts
Get ready for Pourhouse 2.0: The Village beer behemoth replicates itself uptown with more than 100 beers, a menu of American bar food, and four party rooms (with 20 TV screens combined). Expect the same beer-centric events as downtown (Beertopia!), as well as a Pourhouse-to-Pourhouse bar crawls (eek, five miles of beer!) and an NYU-Columbia mixer during opening week (ish). Just in time for school and football. (September)
Fatty Crab Uptown
2170 Broadway at 77th St.
"We will have the exact same menu as our downtown location," says Fatty Crab's main man Zak Pelaccio, joking that his new home on the Upper West Side is "sorta a bedroom community." Crab staples, including short rib rending and fatty duck, will be supplemented with daily specials like nasi goring fried rice and Taiwanese chicken with Pelaccio's signature fire sauce. "I don't speak Upper West Side-ian," responds the chef when asked if he consulted successful UWS chefs like Dovetail's John Frasier about the move. "I've still got my Berlitz to finish." (October)
Shake Shack
366 Columbus Ave, at 77th St.
Danny Meyer brings his combustible mix of gastronomic ecstasy and caloric catastrophe to the Upper West Side with this new Shack storefront, serving the favorites that have made its Madison Square Park sibling a magnet for burger connoisseurs, harried office workers and extremely patient people alike. The lines at the UWS Shack will be undoubtedly lengthy, but indoor seating will offer a reward for the faithful. There will also be a downstairs "rec room" available for party rental-a useful alternative to picnics in the park once the weather turns as cold as a chocolate-peanut shake. (Early fall)
Bar Breton
254 Fifth Ave. at 28th St.
Chef-owner Cyril Renaud can't get enough of his native Brittany: The Frenchman behind Fleur de Sel once again mines his hometown for culinary inspiration at this brasserie-style restaurant, which he tells us will be "on the casual side, with a much faster pace" than Fleur de Sel. Aside from grilled dishes and small plates, Renaud will be serving traditional Brittany galettes-buckwheat crepes prepared with either pork fat or butter. (He flew to France for four days this summer for a jam-packed refresher course on galette-making.) In a desire to "go against the trend of doing everything slick," he's giving the place rustic touches by using wood from an old barn in Vermont and mismatched chairs found in yard sales. (November)
Photo by Michael Harlan Turkell
