Rolo's, From Gramercy Tavern Alumni, Opens in Ridgewood, Queens

Rolo’s, From Gramercy Tavern Alumni, Opens in Ridgewood, Queens
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From left, Rafiq Salim, Howard Kalachnikoff, Kelly Mencin and Paul Wetzel, the chefs at Rolo’s in Ridgewood, Queens.Credit...Calla Kessler for The New York Times
Rolo’s
Four former Gramercy Tavern alumni have collaborated, with two partners, to open this restaurant. “We all got fine dining out of our systems and wanted to do something modest and simple, like the restaurants we want to go to, like Frankies Spuntino,” said Howard Kalachnikoff, a former chef de cuisine at Gramercy Tavern. His partners are Rafiq Salim and Paul Wetzel, previously sous-chefs at Gramercy, and Ben Howell, who was a bar manager there and is overseeing front of the house. The pastry chef is Kelly Mencin, who is not a partner but was also at Gramercy Tavern. It took these colleagues more than five years to come back together for this project. The space is divided into a front room, meant to be the bar with banquettes and some high-top tables, and a partly skylit dining room that can seat about 100 people and has an open kitchen fitted with a wood-burning oven and grill. For now, the bar is a counter where baked goods, homemade pastas, dips, sauces and ice cream are sold to take away, along with grocery items, wines, liquors and cocktails that use locally made spirits. The chefs have come up with a dinner package, $17 per person, for takeout and delivery that consists of a main dish like grilled porchetta with sides, including fried rice and cauliflower salad. Wood-fired half chickens, grilled greens, braised butter beans with salsa verde and focaccias with substantial toppings are among the other menu options. Housemade charcuterie is on the horizon. Stephen Maharam, a regular Gramercy Tavern customer, is another partner, running the business side, and Kermit Westergaard, the architect and contractor, is also a partner by virtue of owning the building. His dog, Rolo, inspired the name. “Everyone in the neighborhood knows Rolo,” Mr. Kalachnikoff said. “We hope they’ll remember us, too.” (Opens Wednesday)

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