Chef Cheo Avila is bringing his signature creative style back to Greenport, this time with his partner chef Ai Ito.
Stereo East End (110 Front St., Unit 3, Greenport), a contemporary mix of myriad cuisines, will bring together Avila and Ito’s travel experiences, refined culinary techniques and innovative personalities.
“To be able to bring all this experience and consolidate it into a place is very exciting,” says Avila.
Set to soft open June 21 from noon to 8 p.m. and open the next week from Thursday to Sunday with more dates to come, Stereo East End isn’t the pair’s first endeavor together. While both chefs have lots of experience in the kitchen, they’ve also traveled in tandem through Brazil, Costa Rica and Colombia.
They previously had a pop-up sit-down restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, where they were serving Venezuelan food made with Japanese ingredients and techniques. They’ve collaborated on the East End and in New York City on different projects, bringing their expertise to others’ kitchens.
Stereo East End has a warm, welcoming feel with a contemporary menu. (Photo credit: Cheo Avila)
“We’ve been looking for an opportunity to open a brick and mortar for a while, but we had to make it right and proper and with the right components, and then we found that here in Greenport,” says Avila.
The all-new menu composed of dishes the pair has never served before — while still pulling from what they’re deep culinary knowledge — will be anything but ordinary.
“It’s contemporary because we don’t want to be in a box of [doing things] the traditional way,” says Ito.
Some dishes diners can look forward to include seaweed-style, asado negro arepas made with local duck. Of course, they’ll be tapping into the local produce scene as well, Avila says, working with KKs the Farm and Deep Roots Farm, among others.
This won’t be Avila’s first time in Greenport. He was previously behind the brand Kontiki, serving tropical Asian dishes.
“We’re not trying to recreate Kontiki whatsoever, nor the other places I’ve worked before,” says Avila. “Those are my style of cooking and her style of cooking, but this is a whole new menu, a whole new everything.”
The vibe inside the restaurant is warm and welcoming, but Avila and Ito had to make some updates to brighten it up, pulling inspiration for the décor from their travels.
“To have the opportunity to create a place from almost zero; to have the opportunity to design it as much as possible and to manage and control the proposal is really exciting,” says Avila.
The name for the spot was inspired by the duality of having two chefs behind the counter, similar to the function of a stereo, which needs two speakers to create a stereophonic sound. With their intention to expand the brand down the line, they wanted a name that would be understood widely.
“We want to continue to grow this brand and hopefully bring it to other places, so we wanted to have a name that can be understood in different latitudes,” says Avila.
