BWW Previews: LIMANI to Dock at Rockefeller Center

Limani, the Roslyn, New York based Greek seafood focused restaurant that has dominated western Long Island's dining scene since 2009, introduces their second location on November 5th in Midtown Manhattan at 45 Rockefeller Plaza on the corner of West 51st Street.

The kitchen of the new 8,000 square foot, 200-seat Limani is helmed by Chef Alam, an 18-year veteran of the Milos organization, where he was most recently the executive chef of the Manhattan restaurant. Much about Chef Alam's menu for the Manhattan Limani will be familiar to the Roslyn restaurant's legions of fans with a large range of highest quality local and Mediterranean seafood, authentic Greek preparations and use of artisanal small-batch items, such as capers from Santorini and Saffron from Kozani.

Chef Alam has also added some dishes representative of his style like Trikilino Bottarga, cured grey mullet served with crostini; Organic Salmon made with Fresno chili, shallots, cilantro, scallions; Big Eye Tuna, sushi quality center cut tuna with skordalia over a bed of Swiss chard and patzaria; Barbouni made with baby red mullet from Greece; and Astakomakaronada, lobster prepared with linguini and tomato sauce. Meat options include Tomahawk, a 36 ounce, bone-in 30-day, dry-aged USDA Prime rib eye steak. Diners will also find "seasonal surprises" on the menu as Chef Alam explores new arrivals on the market.

Several of the 22 seafood entrée selections are market priced by the pound. Another Limani Manhattan innovation is the option for some fish to be coated with a salt crust and oven baked, as opposed to the Limani norm of being charcoal grilled. The menu is further distinguished by Kakavia, a traditional Greek fisherman's soup named after the "kakavi," the tripod cooking pot used by ancient Ionian fishermen. The dish, which takes an hour to prepare, is considered the oldest of Greek fish soups.

Some decorative elements of the new Limani are evocative of that of the original restaurant, including an open kitchen, a market display of fish, and the glamorously modern airy space with soaring ceilings. The dramatic décor, as built by Shawmut Design and Construction, includes an elaborate entrance design, symbolizing the ribs of a ship's hull. It opens into the sophisticated main dining room's white marble floor, hand-grooved sandstone columns and walls and filmy fabric panels forming gracefully flowing partitions. At the center, a square pool of sparkling water reflects the sculpture of a swirling school of fish in seemingly endless motion suspended from the ceiling.

The bar and lounge area is defined by a massive high bottle display with striking stainless steel accents behind the backlit onyx bar, a portion of which is dedicated to sashimi and shellfish offerings. There is an extensive wine list with 400 bottles representing Old and New World production. Likewise, the beer program represents a broad range of domestic and international brews.

Limani serves lunch and dinner in their new location in Midtown Manhattan from noon to midnight, Monday through Saturday and from noon to 10 p.m. on Sunday. For additional information or to book your reservation, please call 212-858-9200 or visit www.limaniny.com.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Johnson/Shawmut Design and Construction

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