Kingfisher Chef Joins Prospect Heights' Faun Restaurant

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, NY — Nico Bouter, the chef behind celebrated Prospect Lefferts Gardens eatery Kingfisher, will now helm the kitchen at Prospect Heights' Faun.

The eatery on Vanderbilt Avenue near St Marks Avenue — an American restaurant with Italian roots — announced the new head chef on Instagram last week, a move first reported by Eater.

"With Bouter’s wry creativity, impeccable standards, and penchant for sourcing the very best local ingredients — we are doubling down on our mission to inspire and surprise with our playful take on Italian cuisine from ingredients farmed, fished and raised right here," Faun's owners wrote in a post.

Bouter led Kingfisher to a coveted Michelin nod last year, where he became known for dishes like a poached halibut and clam dish with seaweed and cauliflower puree and a fluke crudo with lemon and yuzu.

Faun considers itself more an "invitation" to gather than simply a restaurant, offering locals an "uncommonly idyllic garden setting and candlelit atmosphere" to gather over good food, according to its website.

Owners David Stockwell and Carla Swickerath opened Faun in 2016, and today the eatery boasts decadent mains like cacio e pepe, mushroom truffle gnocchi, poached monkfish and pork collar.

The eatery also serves a $62 prix fixe menu including three dishes including a dry-aged duck breast, seared Spanish mackerel or cured tuna.