A new restaurant is in the works at 480 Amsterdam Avenue
The retail space at 480 Amsterdam Avenue (on the corner of 83rd Street) has seen more than its fair share of turnover over the years. When The Avenue, an Irish pub, closed just over a year after opening in August 2024, Bustan—a Mediterranean restaurant located nearby at 487 Amsterdam (between 83rd and 84th streets—was expected to move into the space. However, ILTUWS has learned that this is no longer the case.
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We sat down with Udi Vaknin, Bustan’s general manager, at the site of his upcoming restaurant to learn more about what’s coming.
“I’ve been running Bustan for many years,” Vaknin said when we sat down with him on Monday, October 28. “When [480 Amsterdam] became available, I wanted to open another spot in the neighborhood.” Vaknin described the Upper West Side as a great neighborhood and shared his plan—still being finalized—to open an all-day neighborhood bistro offering American cuisine with a touch of Mediterranean.
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Vaknin is bringing over the chef and the entire kitchen team from the recently closed Penelope, which specialized in American comfort food in a chic setting at 159 Lexington Avenue near Murray Hill.
“I needed a chef, and they were available. I feel it would be great to give them an opportunity,” said Vaknin.
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Penelope had been around for 30 years and was known as an all-day cafe and brunch hot spot. “I knew the owner, and unfortunately, he passed away, so they closed the place. I’m trying to provide them an opportunity.”
The team is currently testing menu items in the kitchen. Some options you could expect include baked edamame croquettes served with a chef-prepared dipping sauce, Italian baby artichokes, hamachi crudo—thinly sliced yellowtail with citrus juices—and grilled halloumi cheese. Vaknin highlighted the niçoise salad, featuring seared tuna, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, mixed greens, and niçoise olives.
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There will be some pastas, steak frites, Faroe Island salmon, and butterfly branzino. Vaknin is still evaluating how he wants to prepare his burgers, but there will be veggie and beef options. He’s debating whether to serve the beef cheeseburger on a traditional bun or perhaps on focaccia. There was also talk of a schnitzel sandwich served on challah bread. One particular dish he was excited about was shakshouka, a Mediterranean or Middle Eastern egg dish.
“You take tomatoes, chop them very fine, add some spices, and some people add garlic or onion. The tomatoes are cooked, then you open two eggs on top. The eggs are still kind of medium, and you serve it with a piece of bread.”
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The cocktail list will showcase classic drinks with a twist, such as a pomegranate negroni and spicy margarita. Vaknin, who was born in Israel and served in the Israeli military, shared that his goal for the restaurant is to pride itself on “very good service and hospitality,” describing the atmosphere as “very casual, very inviting, very bright, and very welcoming.” He added, “Hopefully, we’ll do breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” They plan to start with lunch and dinner, along with weekend brunch, and then add breakfast. His focus is on an eclectic menu featuring comfort food.
Another sweet surprise we learned during our visit was the décor that Vaknin is using to furnish the soon-to-open Upper West Side restaurant. “I mostly hand-picked my items,” he told us. The benches came from a synagogue in New Jersey, the bistro chairs from another location, and the marble tables are framed with wood. “I kind of pick and choose very unique pieces as well as the art.” He mentioned that he faced no supply chain issues in preparing the space, just the time it took to collect the pieces to bring the room to life. The room divider is also repurposed: “I basically wanted to hide the kitchen and the handicapped bathroom and create a vibe within here.” The restaurant is ADA-compliant, with additional restrooms located downstairs.
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Vaknin hopes to open the new restaurant soon, ideally before November 15. While the name is still undecided, he mentioned the possibility of “Miss Paradise,” expressing his desire to create a space that is both feminine and playful, as reflected in the food and décor.
Before The Avenue opened at 480 Amsterdam, the space was home to Taco Tavern, which was actually called Barnacho until its owners attempted to rebrand it. Before Barnacho opened, the space was home to a J.G. Melon, and before that, a place called Joe’s (a bar that had really good burgers).
Let’s hope Vaknin’s forthcoming restaurant is a success and stays around for a while.
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This is such a bunch of baloney. The Avenue was just hitting their stride when they were effectively driven out by Vaknin in what amounted to a hostile takeover that played out on these pages.
I don’t know about any “hostile takeover,” but I can assure you as someone who lives right on that block and passed the Avenue daily that it was not “hitting any stride.” It never took off in even the slightest way, and I predicted it would be another casualty of that space sooner than later. I was right.