NYC’s Growing ‘Ghost Kitchen’ Scene Gets Another Delivery-Only Restaurant

Yet another “ghost kitchen” lands in Manhattan

The latest to jump on the so-called ghost kitchen bandwagon in Manhattan is Kitopi, a company that was founded in Dubai in 2017, and runs several ghost kitchens in the Middle East and London. This is Kitopi’s second location in just as many months after opening its first near Brooklyn Navy Yard in November. The newest location is at 116 W. Houston Street, near Sullivan Street, in Greenwich Village. It’s not yet clear what restaurants will operate out of Kitopi’s new space, but they will be delivery only.

A ghost kitchen is essentially a cooking space for delivery-only restaurants, and over the last few years several have set up shop in NYC. Zuul Kitchens, which serves companies like salad chain Sweetgreen and Chinese fast-casual place Junzi Kitchen, opened in Soho in September last year. Others in the city include Zoku and Reef, and are part of a growing trend of ghost kitchens popping up in California and Europe. Kitopi is set to open its Manhattan location before April, and has plans to open more kitchens in the city and the country in the coming years.

In other news:

— A food festival highlighting sustainable practices in the seafood industry returns for a third year to Long Island City event space the Foundry on January 25.

— Restaurateur Michael Stillman, the man behind steakhouse Quality Eats and other steakhouses in the city, has purchased new digs for $6.85 million on the Upper East Side along with his wife Allison.

— Chinese grocery store New Fuzhou Supermarket is set to close after more than a decade on the corner of Henry and Rutgers Streets, on the Lower East Side.

— Columbia Street Waterfront Italian restaurant Popina now has happy hour Sunday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pasta, including cacio e pepe and amatriciana, costs $15, while wine goes for $5.

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