A Hell's Kitchen Corner Is Hot Again—Frena Celebrates First Year
No matter how you try to describe Hell's Kitchen, amidst its gritty walk-ups and blurry neighborhood boundaries, or even the origin of its moniker, the flames of a once popular restaurant on Tenth Avenue are burning bright again. When Taboon closed in 2021 after nearly two decades in business, Chef Efi Naon thought his chapter on the corner there was over, but, by the power of community and food people just couldn't live without--the 'Middleterranean' fare he's become known for and the oven that brought it all to life--has been back for a year in a new form, Frena.
Known as a fluffier form of pita, frena, originated in Morocco. Frena the restaurant still marries some of Naon's favorites from the Middle East and the Mediterranean, but with a reinvigorated interest in the Moroccan side of his ancestry. So, although he wouldn't call it a Moroccan restaurant per se, some influences from flavors or style of service clearly touch the menu and ambiance.
When asked about how this first year has been, especially to be in the same location but under an updated concept and menu, he couldn't help but see it as an opportunity to reflect on it all as a full-circle moment.
'When I first came to New York, I wasn't sure what to expect,' Naon said when thinking about the last 20 years of cooking in the U.S. 'It is not always like the movies,' he continued. But overtime, upon his experience cooking in Israel where he was raised, then in France, and with mentors who have inspired him along the way, he assembled a team which soon grew into the culinary place to call home. Today, at Frena, he is still working with some of the same people from his early days in New York.
From what same may call the best seat in the house, a corner table looking onto the street, the lively crowd in the restaurant and bar, and over at the oven that has made this all possible, Chef Naon said simply, he's proud. He noted how it felt a little strange looking out from that vantage point at the table, not being in the kitchen with his team, and yet it served as a reminder of purpose.
'The crowd,' he said. 'It has gotten younger and more vibrant.' With that younger crowd comes a new crop of diners experiencing his 'mash-up' he coined 'Middleterranean' for the first time. Although Taboon, which opened in 2004, closed in Hell's Kitchen, Taboonette, a more fast casual eatery, opened in 2012 in Union Square and carried the torch for his signature style in the interim. Taboonette now has locations in Hudson Square, in East Village, and in Brooklyn.
So at once new and familiar Frena is an echo of its former self. 'I think we wanted that in the beginning,' Naon said. 'To still feel familiar, with our famous oven and some of the favorite dishes from before.' And yet, he noted, with a new concept, of course, some things wouldn't work any more.
For one, today's diners have more sophisticated palates, and one that is not limited to food. Over the last decade, restaurants have put serious cocktail and spirits programs in place in order to keep up with the demands of its savvier customers; and of course, to keep up with the growth of the beverage industry on a whole. GM and Beverage Director Giuseppe Santochirico is on it at Frena, having created a wine and cocktail menu nearly as extensive as the restaurant's list of dishes. And that's saying a lot, since Naon says, 'I like a big menu.'
Although Chef Naon says he likes big menus, the Frena menu offers variety without feeling overwhelming. With dips, breads, and salads, market specials, and mains from land and sea, there are things to try and share, but items to note for your return. 'I like people to come back and to feel like there's more to taste every time, so it brings them back again and again,' he said. 'Maybe it's my Moroccan side, that you always have to put a lot on the table, so there is so much food.'
Like many creators, chefs always see things to improve upon, to tweak, to revise. 'You know, you want to feel like, okay, we did it. But you always have to be alert, check, and try to get better.'
From the quintessential 5, 7, or 12-spice blends that make up some of Morocco's most desired flavors and aromas--cue black pepper, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, clove and nutmeg, to name a few--it is easy to understand why Chef Naon leaned into those to round out his culinary dossier.
'This is the food I grew up eating," he said. "Mom is Russian, Dad is Moroccan, but I lived in Israel. Of course the Russian food is delicious, but somehow the Moroccan food was more colorful, it's sexier, it always feels new and exciting with more spice and more life.'
More spice, more life. That is certainly how to describe the vibe of Frena. Naon and his team have cultivated a gathering space that is lively and loud, with tables covered in shared plates, a manner of service he wouldn't dream of having any other way.
To think, being a chef was not a calling for him initially. He just got into it after the army, however, then, 'by chance, I just fell in love,' he said. Naon continued to wax poetic about what diving into restaurants meant, once he found a sense of direction. 'I just love the environment, the kitchen, the madness of it all.'
And that madness diners get to delight in now has taken years to hone and underscore with confidence. Chef Naon admits it takes time to really grow into yourself, to have confidence in your own voice, to develop a language as a chef. You start out doing what those who've taught you do or what those you've admired have done. Many writers or artists do the same thing, just following footsteps until your footprint becomes recognizable as your own. 'It takes time to trust yourself,' Naon said. 'And to stop looking at what other people are do.'
From Hell ('s Kitchen) and back; and to a fire that destroys to one that brings life, Frena has brought a sense of community back to the Tenth Avenue corner. It is vibrant, it is colorful, and it is a place to once again break bread.
Frena in Hell's Kitchen, 773 Tenth Avenue.
Armando Rafael
In addition to celebrating the restaurant's one-year anniversary through food, drink, and dessert specials, they are also celebrating by spreading out. Frena is coupling up with Zola Bakes, the Italian cookie phenom, for the opening of its new roadside concept, called The Dip Bar. The Dip Bar will offer dips, cocktails, a limited selection of appetizers, and oysters and have an exclusive cocktail that's paired with a Zola Bakes cookie.
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