Maiella Owners Open Sister Restaurant By Gantry Plaza State Park

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — The team behind the Italian restaurant Maiella is opening a sprawling new eatery along the Long Island City waterfront.

American Brass opens to the public Wednesday with a menu of American brasserie fare like cherry-glazed barbecue ribs, rotisserie suckling big, a 28-day dry-aged burger, grass-fed Prime Black Angus steaks and red wine-infused macaroni and cheese, according to a news release.

Specialties include an oversized raw bar with 16 types of oysters and a pig-shaped charcuterie board filled with cured meats, cheeses, homemade pickles, champagne grapes, deviled eggs and red-wine figs.

Raffaele Solinas, who oversees the kitchen at Maiella, is serving as executive chef. The bar menu is headed by Aiden Bowie, an alumnus of upscale cocktail bar The Aviary NYC in Columbus Circle's Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

The 14,000-square-foot space across from Gantry Plaza State Park seats up to 150 people, with room for an additional 84 diners in a seasonal outdoor space with views of the Manhattan skyline.

American Brass sits four blocks south of its sister restaurant, Maiella, which owners Tommy Demaras and Robert Briskin opened in 2015.

The duo had eyed the site at Center Boulevard between 49th and 50th Avenues from the time it housed Riverview Restaurant and Lounge, they told the LIC Post in 2018 after announcing the new venture.

American Brass is among a host of new, upscale eateries opening in Long Island City. Recent arrivals include Argentinian spot R40 and the all-day restaurant ama at the old Paper Factory Hotel.