Miznon, Opening in Chelsea Market, to Offer Some New York ‘Firsts’

Muznon's roasted cauliflower (Image: Miznon)

The word firsts is in quotes, partly because one of the chef’s alleged creations — carpaccio made from fish — sounds a whole lot like crudo. And who knows what tomato “sashimi” will turn to be?

Suffice it to say that we will have to suspend judgment until the New York branch of Miznon (there are already three other satellites of the Tel Aviv-based restaurant, in Paris, Vienna, and Melbourne) opens sometime this winter.

The Chelsea Market installation will be a counter-service operation like the others. It will also feature Chef Eyal Shani’s signature dish: whole roasted cauliflower. Shani begins by boiling the head in salt water, after which he rubs it with olive oil and roasts it until tender. The finished product is consumed as a pull-apart dish, not unlike monkey bread.

Shani cut his teeth at a high-end seafood in Jerusalem that became renowned for its bouillabaisse (which he confesses was “straight out of Julia Child’s book”).

Miznon, however, caters to a younger, more budget-minded crowd. “I decided to give them street food,” he is quoted as saying, adding, “pita, with a difference, not with the usual shawarma and falafel but with fillings like shrimp in cream sauce and seared rib-eye.”

The bread itself is made on the premises, and some of the fillings you can expect to find include lobster with crème fraîche, moussaka, and a Reuben pita.

The menu also features what the restaurant calls “Run Over Potato,” a potato that is baked and flattened and served with sour cream and herbs.

Miznon, Chelsea Market, 75 Ninth Avenue, at 15th St., 212-463-9600.