The co-founder of trendy Manhattan cocktail lounge Employees Only is branching out with a new family-friendly restaurant in Brooklyn.
Igor Hadzismajlovic, who opened the late-night industry fave in 2004, has chosen his wife, Helen Zhang, and Edo Ademovic to be his partners in the new venture.
Ziggy’s Roman Cafe, at 15 Main Street in Dumbo, is slated to open next month, Zhang told Side Dish.
“We were searching for normal places where families can eat in Dumbo and there was nothing accessible for people who live in the neighborhood, just exorbitantly priced restaurants since it is a huge tourist magnet — but not a dining destination,” said Zhang, a former publicist and brand marketer.
The restaurant, named for their youngest child, will have around 65 seats inside and a mezzanine “for kids to play while parents eat and have a good time,” Zhang said.
“We looked at the space and loved it. It’s right in the middle of Dumbo. It’s a special space,” she added.
The couple have two kids: Rio, 7, and Ziggy, 5.
The menu — from Chef John Poiarkoff, the former executive chef of Marta — will include “easy, no fuss Italian Roman style food” such as artichokes alla Romana, fried gnocchi and hasselback eggplant parmagiana.
Pizzamaker Federico Crociani, known for his thin, Roman-style pizzas, will consult on the pizza program.
“Eating out was such a big part of our lives and it can be painful with kids — we wanted to create something to mitigate the pain that parents feel,” Zhang said.
“We are paranoid about not alienating non-parents and will have a super-fun vibe like Employees Only.”
Ademovic, formerly the bar manager at Sunset Beach on Shelter Island, who will be Ziggy’s general manager.
Cocktails will be a key part of the plan. They are being developed by Employees Only co-founder Jason Kosmas.
The cocktails will range from an Employees Only classic, West Side (Charbay Meyer Lemon Vodka and fresh lemon juice shaken with fresh mint and topped with soda) as well as Ziggy’s originals, including a Vesuvian Margarita, which is “Italian-imagined” with reposado tequila, Italicus, orange agave, lemon and black lava salt, as well as a Capuccino Assassino, a new take on the classic espresso martini with CarpanoAntica (vermouth) “to add depth.”
We hear… that Miriam, a popular Park Slope, Brooklyn, spot that opened 20 years ago, and now has an Upper West Side outpost near the Beacon Theater, is in expansion mode.
It’s opening Miriam West Village, at 140 Seventh Ave. South, and Miriam Upper East side at 973 Lexington Ave – where popular neighborhood hotspot Rafael, once stood.
The Mediterranean and Middle Eastern-inspired fare is from chef/restaurateur Rafael “Rafi” Hasid, who named the eatery after his mom.
It boasts tableside lamb shawarma terracotta, chicken schnitzel and steak levant for dinner, as well as sharable dishes like Jerusalem sesame bread, lavash shatta-feta and spanakopita.
The menu also features popular brunch items, like a burekas breakfast (a flaky pastry with hard boiled eggs, crushed tomato, shug, Syrian olives, pickles and tahini), Turkish eggs (poached over yogurt with harissa oil, roasted eggplant, tahini and pita), and malawach, (a flaky, savory Yemenite flatbread with melted fontina and cheddar cheese, hard boiled eggs, tahini, crushed tomatoes, shug, pickles and Syrian olives.).
Desserts feature burnt cheesecake with blueberry coulis, kadaif cannoli with whipped labneh, date molasses and pisachio creme and a rose babka werved warm with vanilla ice cream.
The restaurants are part of Hasid’s 6R Hospitality Group, which includes the New Orleans-inspired 1803 NYC in Tribeca and its Bon Courage speakeasy.
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