When one of the hottest restaurant teams in New York opens a new spot, you immediately take notice. That’s true of Union Square’s Cafe Zaffri or Zaf’s, a new Levantine-inspired restaurant from the team behind MICHELIN-Starred The Musket Room and French and Italian hotspot Raf’s. Reservations are now open for February and the restaurant officially opens its doors February 7.
Chefs Mary Attea and Camari Mick are fresh off their Food & Wine Best New Chefs win, and Attea is leaning on her roots for the exciting all-day menu at the restaurant, which is part of the new hotel and members club The Twenty Two (the restaurant is open to the public). “We’re basically doing all our favorite things we love to eat with Middle Eastern ingredients,” Attea says.
The restaurant team, which includes sisters Jennifer and Nicole Vitagliano, hopes it will be a little something for everyone—a new go-to spot for power lunches, second dates, and indulgent solo breakfasts.
See how that vision comes to life at Cafe Zaffri, and make a booking on OpenTable.
What to eat
You’ll see the Levantine influence on the menu right off the bat. Start with the lamb tartare, a crowd favorite at The Musket Room, that’s also on the menu here and has notes of cinnamon and allspice. It’s Attea’s take on the raw tartar dish kibbeh nayeh. “[It] is something we ate for big family holidays and so it was always a special dish,” she says. “Every time I eat it, it just reminds me of growing up.”
Another one of Attea’s signatures, the chicken liver mousse, is also on the menu and has subtle Levantine touches. “Normally, you’d glaze it with brandy or cognac, but I use arak, which adds that hint of sweetness and anise,” Attea says. When she first applied for the job at The Musket Room, she served this dish to Vitagliano. “It’s the first [dish] of mine she tried. It’s a deeply personal dish. I’m excited to have it in a home where it really fits.”
You can also expect new adds like an ambitious bread program that was a must-have for owner Jennifer Vitagliano and shish barak dumplings in a garlicky yogurt sauce with fennel pollen and pine nuts. “We’re trying to do modern interpretations of these flavors and present them in the way that aligns with the aesthetic of the restaurant,” Attea says.
Save room for dessert because there’s a sweet mezze on the menu. “We have different kinds of cookies and a whole ice cream program,” Vitagliano says. “We love the saffron and pistachio Syrian ice cream as well as the coconut rose sorbet.”
What to drink
Drinks continue the focus on the Middle East with cocktails spotlighting ingredients like saffron, pistachio, and mastic as well as spice blends like ras al hangout and baharat. Plus anise-based drinks are big here. “Mary [Attea] grew up drinking arak, and my family grew up drinking anisette, which is similar, but Italian,” Vitagliano says.
The wine list delves into vineyards from around the Middle East. “We’re definitely exploring all of those wine regions, Lebanon being the most famous, probably the most Old World in the region,” Vitagliano says. “There are some modern wines coming out of Jordan and Israel, as well as Georgia, that probably fit more into what we would call the natural wine segment.”
Where to sit
The restaurant has three rooms each with distinct vibes. Enter into the bar and lounge room, which “feels like a cozy spot where you might have a croissant and a coffee in the morning,” Vitagliano says. An atrium with a massive skylight is just past and “is a really beautiful place to sit for lunch or dinner,” Vitagliano adds. The most formal of the spaces, the dining room, is beyond that and done up with white tablecloths and red marble.
When to go
Depending on the vibes you’re going for, the restaurant has a bit of everything. It’s buzzy in the evenings after work at the bar and dinner reservations are currently the most sought-after. Consider heading over for breakfast when you can’t get in at night. You can look forward to labneh and granola with date syrup, Jerusalem bagel with cured salmon and labneh, and stellar pastries.
Diana Hubbell is a James Beard Award-winning food and culture journalist based in Brooklyn. Currently an associate editor at Atlas Obscura, she has also written for Eater, The Washington Post, The Guardian, VICE, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, WIRED, and Playboy, among others.
