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A restaurant with an eye for wine is coming soon to Greenpoint. Cecily, at 80 Franklin Street, near Oak Street, in Greenpoint, is run by Kristin Ma, a former sommelier at the Michelin-starred restaurant Estela, and Tara Noble, who helped open the Prospect Heights wine bar LaLou. Their restaurant revolves around seasonal produce; dishes like porcini mushroom “chicharron” and collard greens with butter beans are vegetarian, but there are meat and seafood options, too. Zach Frieling, who worked at Rockefeller Center’s Jupiter and the Michelin-starred restaurant the Four Horsemen, is leading the kitchen. Cecily opens on November 30. The bi-level space was formerly a gallery called IRL. The owners will institute a profit-sharing model among employees, according to a spokesperson.
A promising new pizzeria loses its chef
Kevin Cox, the owner of Funzi’s in the East Village, is reportedly out at the new business. The promising pizzeria opened on St. Marks Place this spring: Its thin-crust pies with simple toppings — tomato, garlic, and chicory — put the pizzeria in the same sentence as slice shop greats like L’Industrie, where Cox previously worked, and Scarr’s. He has since left the business amid a dispute with the building’s investors and landlord, according to sources in the neighborhood. The Funzi’s name has been removed from the storefront at 36 St. Marks Place, between Second and Third avenues; the restaurant remains open for service. Funzi’s did not respond to Eater’s request for comment.
An iconic Staten Island bakery is up for sale
The owner of a decades-old Staten Island bakery is putting his business up for sale. Alfonso’s Pastry Shoppe, open since 1978, was listed last month for $2.2 million; the bakery’s current owner, Anthony Campitiello, is looking for someone to take over the business. “You know when it’s time,” he told the New York Daily News. The bakery was started by Anthony’s father, Alfonso Campitiello, an Italian immigrant who died in 2020 at the age of 81. His father’s death, plus the pandemic, prompted the younger Campitiello to sell.
