BY CYBELE POLICASTRO AND LIZ KEENAN

Bleecker Street Beat was excited to see several restaurants joining Rita Sodi's excellent Italian restaurant I Sodi on the stretch of Christopher Street between Bleecker and Hudson.

Recent openings include the charming and rustic Fiaschetteria Pistoia where you’ll feel like you’ve walked into an authentic Tuscan restaurant. Red Paper Clip from Blue Hill alums, Kevin Chen and Tashi Gyamtso, which serves Himalayan and French-inspired entrees, and nestled on the corner of Bedford and Christopher - right across from the historic Lucille Lortel Theater- you’ll stumble upon North Fork, which serves American casual with an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients.

North Fork’s new Executive Chef, Brian Jawahir, has refined the menu. It’s a bit less meat-centric than when it opened. Entrees include Sea Bass and Spinach Penne along with favorites like the North Fork burger and the Pastrami Crusted Long Island Duck.

We had a chance to chat with Brian. The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Brian Jawahir (Photo by Erica Freudenstein)

What is the inspiration behind North Fork?

We are using seasonal ingredients. Everything is fresh. We are using local farms in the New York, New Jersey region.

When you took over the kitchen, did you change the menu?

Yes. I really wanted to take it to a higher level. I do modern technique cooking as well as the classic French techniques. So, sous vide cooking, also, gastronomy, changing textures of food, making orange juice into caviars, doing stuff like taking a pea puree, making it transparent. Infusing flavors and things that shouldn't really have that flavor and also just like changing the overall form of things.

What was your background in cooking?

I started off as a pizza delivery driver and a dishwasher and one busy day the manager just kind of looked at me and he was like, hey, do you want to learn how to cook? And kind of started from there. And that was 11 years ago and then, the same guy got me a job in downtown Disney. It was high volume, two kitchens, and two floors. One day one of my friends, who was involved in a fine dining restaurant that was opening asked me if I would like to cook professionally. I ended up working with a French chef, John Stephan Bernard, who took me from being a high volume cook, just getting food out, to precision cooking, precision cutting, really intense French cooking, you know what I mean? He molded me into where I'm at now.

How have the locals been reacting so far?

Everybody's been loving it. Someone just told me they had the best French toast I've ever had. I had one lady actually called me out of the kitchen to tell me that it was the best burger she's ever eaten.

North Fork

122 Christopher, West Village, NY 10014 (917) 261-6598. Visit Website