A First Look at Txikito's Newly Expanded Interior

By Rebecca Marx Fri., Apr. 16 2010 at 11:30 AM

Categories: Marx, Restaurant News and Notes

Txikito's brand new digs.

Alex Raij and Eder Montero's tiny, lively Txikito just got a little bigger: last night, the chefs lifted the curtains on their restaurant's newly expanded interior.

Raij and Montero spent the last few months renovating the space, which formerly housed a bodega, and now plan to use it to host private events, though Raij expects it will be used to accommodate waiting dinner crowds. Last night, it was used to host Alessandro Frassica, who came from Florence, Italy, where he owns 'ino, a paninoteca, to turn out pintxos-sized sandwiches for an appreciative and happily buzzed crowd. The restaurant has kept the bodega's riot gate intact, so that when it's lifted, as it was last night, the new room, which is lined with handsome wood planks, boasts an excellent, open-air view of Ninth Avenue and its passing scenery. Standing next to this glassless window is a bit like standing at the rail of a ship or on a balcony, and last night made as ideal an accompaniment to the expertly composed sandwiches as a bottomless glass of Rioja.

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