New Upper East Side Restaurant Serves Up Comforts Of Home

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — If you haven't already heard about Home Kitchen, the new comfort food restaurant that opened last month on a quiet Upper East Side street, that's no accident.

Its owners, Paul Modica and Peter Philis, have relied mostly on word of mouth to publicize their eatery. And they have reason to believe that will be enough: Philis's family owns Lexington Candy Shop, the beloved luncheonette that his great-grandfather founded in 1925.

"I know the neighborhood, I know the doormen, I know all the customers," Philis told Patch.

He and Modica first crossed paths nearly a decade ago at Bobby Van's, the venerated Midtown steakhouse. Modica, now 62, was the general manager, having run a handful of other Manhattan restaurants, while Philis, 36, was setting out on his own after growing up inside his family's shop.

Despite the experience gap, the two shared a passion for unprententious home cooking.

"I’m the guy in the kitchen on Thanksgiving that’s not having fun," Modica said. "I wanted to bring my mom's, and my dad's, and my grandmother's, and my recipes to the public."

Modica and Philis left the steakhouse in 2019. That fall, they signed a lease for the empty storefront at 155 East 84th St., most recently home to the Kosher Italian restaurant Tevere — and just one block uptown from Lexington Candy Shop, in an area of Yorkville devoid of comfort-style eateries like the one they envisioned.

Looking under the hood, however, they found that the space was in worse shape than they'd realized, requiring months of costly repairs. Then, of course, came the pandemic, which delayed their planned opening by nearly a year.

Mercifully, their landlord was "more than generous" when it came to reducing rent, Modica said, allowing them to keep the restaurant dream alive — though he blew through "a tremendous amount" of his own savings in the process.

Finally, on Oct. 21, Home Kitchen swung open the doors to its cozy digs, a step-down space with exposed brick walls that Modica compared to a Greenwich Village bistro. The menu, he said, is "eclectic": inventive dishes like white bean bruschetta and roasted beet salad, and elevated versions of classics like spaghetti and meatballs, eggplant parmesan and chicken pot pie.

"You go to a diner and you have meatloaf and you’re like, 'Eh,'" Modica said. "You come here and have meatloaf, you think you’re sitting at grandma's table."

During their three weeks in business, Home Kitchen has gotten a rapturous reception from customers who'd passed by the empty storefront for years. Modica and Philis expect the pace to pick up even more once the scaffolding that shrouds their building comes down, and once they open for lunch and brunch service — goals that have been delayed by the nationwide worker shortage.

In any case, Philis is already learning what it's like to be the proprietor of his own neighborhood institution.

"I have to leave 10 minutes early to run errands now," he said, "because I get stopped by customers."

You’ve been asking. You’ve been patient. We’re happy and proud to announce Peter and Paul have finally opened Home Kitchen NYC - featuring good old fashioned home cooking like Grandma used to make. Please visit our “sister restaurant “ down the block at 155 E 84th St.(off Lex) pic.twitter.com/rHL3GZgUIn
— Lexington Candy Shop (@LexingtonCandy) October 31, 2021

Home Kitchen is open daily, from 4-10 p.m. Sunday-Monday and 4-10:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Learn more and view a menu at homekitchennyc.com.

Have an Upper East Side news tip? Email reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.