Restaurateur to Open Mediterranean Eateries in Mt. Kisco, Harrison
Westchester will soon have two new restaurants serving Mediterranean-inspired food.
An early April soft opening is expected for 273 Kitchen, a 30-seat establishment in Harrison, and in June for the 100-seat 251 Lex in Mount Kisco in the space previously occupied by The Flying Pig.
The same four-person, executive team currently operating 8 North Broadway in Nyack will launch the two new eateries. The group is led by chef and owner Constantine Kalandranis, executive chef Hichem Habbas, general manager/sommelier Richard Mitchell and co-general manager Louis Cea. The menus at the three restaurants have similarities but there will also be differences.
At 273 Kitchen, almost the entire menu will be devoted to small plates with an emphasis on the oyster bar. Wine and beer will be served but not other alcoholic beverages. The restaurant will have an open kitchen.
“An open kitchen creates a sense of intimacy and play; it heightens the entire dining experience,” Kalandranis remarked.
At 251 Lex, a more extensive menu than the one at the 65-seat 8 North Broadway will be available. Like the Nyack restaurant, it will have a full-service bar. The restaurant has two floors with dining primarily on the second floor while a bar menu will be offered at the first-floor bar.
“The menu at 251 Lex will change only every couple of months or so, whereas the menu at 8 North Broadway changes daily,” Kalandranis said.
Whole roasted-animal service will be introduced at 251 Lex for individual guests with the type of animal changing from day to day. At most restaurants where this type of service is provided, group participation is usually required. The restaurant will also have outdoor seating, weather permitting, on the same patio where the spit roast will be cooked and carved.
“The animal could be lamb one day and pig or a whole side of beef the next,” Kalandranis said. “On a day when it’s lamb, we could serve lamb soup and seasonal dips as well as carved roast lamb with lemon and oil.”
The signature dish at the restaurants will be sizzling octopus, served seven days a week as either an appetizer or entree.
An a la carte Sunday brunch with a different menu each week is offered at the Nyack location. All three restaurants will serve brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Live jazz is planned for the Mount Kisco location on Sundays beginning at 4:30 p.m. starting on a date that has yet to be announced.
Kalandranis explained why all three restaurants have their addresses in their names.
“We want patrons to feel they are walking into the dining room of a friend’s home in their neighborhood — an unpretentious, comfortable place to enjoy great wine, fresh seafood and seasonal preparations,” he said.
Before opening 8 North Broadway, Kalandranis cooked at two Manhattan restaurants owned by Michael Psilakis, and he was the executive chef and a member of the opening team for exo, a Mediterranean restaurant in Whitestone, Queens. Kalandranis, his wife Johna, and two-year-old daughter Isla live in Mount Kisco. The family is expecting another child shortly.
Born and raised in Algeria, Habbas worked with Kalandranis at Ahthos and exo before 8 North Broadway. Mitchell left the financial industry to become assistant general manager at Stonebridge Restaurant and also worked at exo. Cea was born into an Italian family in the Bronx and working in the restaurant business. His father and uncle started Faille’s Pine Tree Inn in the 1940s and he was later part of a second generation to lead the restaurant.
A sightseeing attraction at 8 North Broadway is its unusual copper bar. On Tuesdays, selected wine by the bottle is offered at half price and on Wednesdays, oysters cost $1 from 5 to 10 p.m.
251 Lex will be at 251 Lexington Ave. in Mount Kisco. 273 Kitchen will be located at 273 Halstead Ave. in Harrison near the Metro-North train station. 8 North Broadway is located in a more than 100-year-old building at 8 North Broadway in Nyack. For more information, call 845-353-1200.
