Photo by {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}
Anella, the fancy-pants restaurant that took over the old Queen’s Hideaway space last year and whose executive chef Michael Sullivan left in September, is getting a new one next month.
ANELLA
Greenpoint Restaurant To Debut New Chef, New Menu In February*January 19, 2010 (Brooklyn, NY) – The New Year brings a new chef and menu to popular Greenpoint eatery, Anella. Co-owners Josh Cohen and Blair Papagni announce today that Executive Chef Joseph Ogrodnek will take the reins in the restaurant’s kitchen starting in early February. The new menu will showcase Ogrodnek’s unique take on seasonal, contemporary American cuisine with Mediterranean accents.
“Chef Ogrodnek brings an exciting, new voice to Anella,” says Cohen. “He will keep to our philosophy of using the best and freshest ingredients possible to prepare simple, impeccably cooked food, but will also apply his considerable skills to progress our menu to new heights. We believe he’s going to deliver something our diners — both new and old — will love.”
Ogrodnek, 27, arrives at Anella with a pedigree earned in some of the country’s best restaurants. Drawn to food at an early age, he started as a line cook at only 17 at Opus 251 in his native Philadelphia. A 2002 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., Ogrodnek has worked as Lead Line Cook at Union Square Café, Chef de Partie at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, and as Sous Chef at both Gramercy Tavern and Jean Georges at the Mark.
Ogrodnek chose Anella for his first foray as an Executive Chef because of his deep desire to cook and serve in a small, intimate neighborhood setting.
Patrons can watch Ogrodnek work in the restaurant’s open kitchen as he crafts his menu which features such dishes as Whipped Ricotta, farm-fresh ricotta cheese, roasted sweet carrots and Sylvetta arugula served with house-made bread; Macaroni & Cheese, orecchiette pasta, Fontina and Parmesan cheese, tomato confit baked in an individual casserole dish and topped with a soft-cooked egg; Potato-Crusted Chatham Cod with white-wine braised fennel and Tagiascia olives; and Pork and Bean Cassoulet, Berkshire pork shoulder, coco beans, smoked bacon and Tuscan kale.
Additionally, Ogrodnek will utilize Anella’s brick oven to bake a variety of house-made breads and pizzas.
Ingredients for the menu are sourced from as many local and sustainable outlets as possible including produce from Greenpoint’s very own Rooftop Farms.
Wine Director Alfred DiScipio complements the menu with a newly expanded list of wines focused on lesser-known Old World varietals such as Ruche, a red from Piedmont, and Pigato, a white from Liguria. In addition to wines, patrons can saddle up to Anella’s bar — made of reclaimed workbenches from the Steinway Piano Factory — and enjoy one of its many seasonal cocktails, including the popular Dark & Handsome, aged rum, fresh ginger, simple syrup, lime juice and topped with prosecco.
ABOUT
Partners, Josh Cohen and Blair Papagni, opened Anella — named after Papagni’s beloved great-grandmother — in May of 2009, to offer their Greenpoint neighbors a comfortable, affordable and delectable dining destination. Led by General Manager, Andrew Oswald, formerly of Gotham Bar and Grill, the 50-seat eatery engenders a warm, convivial feel with a rustic interior of dark woods, soft lighting, a brick oven and an open kitchen where diners can watch their food being prepared. The restaurant also features a backyard herb and vegetable garden which is open, weather-permitting, for al fresco dining. The kitchen draws upon the garden to supplement its produce, often using ingredients for food and cocktails that are picked a la minute.
Anella is located at 222 Franklin Street (between Green Street and Huron Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York. (For subway service, use the Greenpoint Avenue stop on the G train.) Anella is open for dinner Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday 5:30PM to 10PM, and Friday and Saturday 5:30PM to 11PM; brunch Saturday and Sunday 10AM to 4PM. Starting in early February all major credit cards will be accepted. http://www.anellabrooklyn.com; 718-389-8100.