For those who can never seem to get a table at Missy Robbins' Italian hotspot Lilia good news is on the way: the Brooklyn chef is opening a second pasta-focused restaurant today and it's nearly double the size.
Located in South Williamsburg at the revived Domino Sugar Refinery, Misi (pronounced "Missy") is going to be more of what diners have come to love about Lilia. "It's going to be very pasta-focused, very vegetable-focused," says Robbins.
The menu will be comprised of 10 pasta dishes and 10 vegetable dishes, all made in-house. With this new "streamlined concept," according to Robbins, diners can expect plates like fettuccine with buffalo milk butter and extra-aged Parmigiano-Reggiano; bigoli (a thick, spaghetti-like noodle) with pork sugo and Parmigiano; sheep's milk ricotta-filled occhi (tiny ravioli) with bottarga and lemon; malloreddus (Sardinian gnocchi) with clams, sea beans and saffron; a whole roasted eggplant with Calabrian chiles; and olive oil-poached zucchini with capers and grilled bread, which Robbins calls her "play on a panzanella." Oh, and don't forget the desserts, including gelato.
"I'm not reinventing how I cook," says Robbins. "[But] food-wise, it's a completely different menu [from Lilia]."
The space, too, differs from Lilia. In addition to being a brand new building, there will be 98 seats up for grabs at Misi—35 of which are set up around the kitchen and 15 at the bar, where walk-ins can try their luck. The new space will also have a full room dedicated to pasta production that will turn into a private dining room at night.
For Robbins, the decision to open a second restaurant was a no-brainer, but it was all about finding the right spot. "We always planned on opening more than one restaurant, but I wanted to do it the right way. The timing was right, the space was right, the location was right," she says. "We looked at a lot of places after we opened Lilia and turned down a lot of spaces that didn't feel right. This felt right being in Williamsburg, staying here and being close to Lilia."
Having run two restaurants that were not close to one another while working at (the now-defunct) A Voce, Robbins knows the importance of proximity. "Even at three years old, Lilia is still very young. I spend a lot of time there," says Robbins. "It's very hard to have a second place when they're far apart."
Despite only being a 20-minute walk from one spot to the other, Robbins knows it will still be a challenge to be in two places at once. "It's not about not having to be there—I want to be there, for our guests," she says. "I have a really amazing team at both places, and made it so I don't have to stand and expedite at Lilia anymore. I'm there to support them when I need to support them."
Which is why this new space will not only serve to feed more pasta-hungry mouths, but it also gives Robbins and her team a chance to grow. "I want to teach [the staff] and support them and help them grow, which for me is the biggest goal: to grow great chefs. To take people who are just starting and help them become really good at this."
Robbins has been a longtime advocate for personal growth, and says she will try and maintain the work balance she has strived so hard to create in her own life as best she can. "I feel like there's not enough time in the day, every day. The busier I get, the more I feel that way," says Robbins. She adds, "It's about making a strong commitment to yourself to have some balance. To have some non-negotiables. Committing to take a real day off, which as a business owner, it's hard to shut off and put your phone away. I think that's really important. You have to get a little past the guilt."
That ethos goes for Robbins' team as well, whether that's through group yoga classes on Sundays, gym membership incentives or even just pursuing other passions outside of the kitchen. "I missed out on so many things as a young cook. I never want the staff to be afraid of that."
Robbins has also worked to create an environment where all are welcome in the #MeToo era that has rocked this industry especially hard. "We're gonna keep doing what we've been doing since we opened, which is creating a nice environment for our staff," says Robbins.
With such a smooth system in place it's only natural to wonder if and when Robbins will go for number three. "I feel very lucky people have responded to Lilia the way they have. It's been very exciting," says Robbins. "I would imagine that we'll do other projects, but for me it's about timing and I really am committed to making this one great."
Manhattanites, however, shouldn't hold their breath that the next location will be across the river. "People always say, 'Are you going to go back to Manhattan?' It's not important to me anymore. If I found an amazing space that wasn't cost-prohibitive I would certainly open a place there. But for me, I'm happy to be in Brooklyn."
Photos by Evan Sung.
