Asu Whiteman tells us that on Thursday she’ll reopen her Spanish joint, Zipi Zape, as a Mediterranean-American restaurant, Barberry, with the same chef, Diego Gonzales. Gonzales will bring back some of his dishes from Alioli (grilled sardines; filet mignon carpaccio; frisée salad with honey-roasted walnuts, Cabrales, and apples; chocolate souflée with raspberry coulis) and will serve new items such as burgers, sandwiches, mussels in saffron similar to the ones served at Bistrouge (where he consulted), as well as a mixed grill of flank steak, short ribs, sweetbreads, and quail.
Update: A look at the menu and interior.
Meanwhile, the bar that used to awkwardly divide the room in two has been removed from its center (there are now two bars, one of them serving coffee and aperitifs), and a communal table is surrounded by rustic wood booths and tables. This all sounds great (with Mercat opening a new place in Williamsburg, we don’t have to mourn the passing of a Spanish restaurant too much), but we’re sad to see that rare specimen, the calimocho, disappear from the drinks menu; we’ll certainly be pouring Coke in our wine when we visit the new place.
Barberry, 152 Metropolitan Ave., at Berry St.; 718-599-3027
