Arielle Ferrara, formerly the chef at The Riverhead Project, will helm the kitchen at the soon-to-open Greenport restaurant “American Beech,” northforker has learned.
She begins the new role on April 20.
“I think she is extremely talented and she has a youthful approach to how she runs the kitchen,” said restaurateur Dennis McDermott, who along with building owner Brent Pelton will run the restaurant when it opens later this year. “And I think she is fresh and exciting in the kitchen.”
Ferrara worked for McDermott, the owner of The Riverhead Project, serving as head chef at the eatery from May until the restaurant’s closing in September 2014.
An opening date has not been set for the new establishment, though McDermott said he is shooting for sometime between late spring and early summer.
Previously, Ferrara did stints in the kitchen at 1 North Steakhouse in Hampton Bays and at Desmond’s restaurant and lounge in Wading River. She has also worked for the upscale chain J. Alexander’s in Tampa, Fla.
Ferrara, an East Moriches native and graduate of Johnson and Wales University, told us in May that she enjoys cooking a range of cuisines from Italian to Indian.
“I want to incorporate a lot of cultures, but keep it local,” she said. “[McDermott] loves creativity and a lot of different styles.”
The restaurant’s cuisine will be moderately-priced American fare, McDermott and Pelton told us earlier this year.
“It will be American cuisine and the price is going to be approachable,” McDermott said. “We want everybody to be able to come whenever they want.”
The building, which most recently was home to chef Keith Luce’s restaurant Main, is being completely renovated.
The restaurant will likely be open for lunch and dinner with an all-day bar menu. It will feature an outdoor bar, a pergola-covered patio and restaurant seating for about 120 people.
Pelton, who lives in Hells Kitchen and practices wage recovery law with his firm Pelton & Associates, purchased the complex known as Stirling Square for $1.95 million in September.
