In late December one of our frequent fliers, TwinWillow, contacted the tip line to report that something was awry at Farnatchi. Turns out the small Mediterranean restaurant in Knox Park, home of the popular Farnatchi burger, briefly closed at the end of the year and is reopening today under new old ownership. Yassar Khalaf, who also runs Medina in Victory Park and Baboush in the West Village, originally opened this spot in 2009, but a while later sold it to another set of owners.
See also: - Eat This: The Farnatchi Burger
Well, it's now back in the hands of Khalaf. Today I spoke with new manager, Jason Sebastian, who explained that after Khalaf regained ownership, they shuttered the doors on last day of 2012 to do a little house-cleaning (literally), revise the menu just a bit and essentially hit the reset button.
"The menu has changed a little, but we still have all the basics like the pizzas, salads and, of course, the Farnatchi burger," said Sebastian, "but we also wanted to make it a little more customer friendly."
In that vein, the menu is a tad bit more focused. Khalaf has quite a bit of experience in running restaurants, as told in this rather interesting interview we had last year. Surely he can iron out any wrinkles.
The new old Farnatchi is reopened for business today, January 4, at 11 a.m.
