June 23, 2016 By Michael Florio
After months of renovation, a Ditmars Boulevard eatery will soon reopen with a new look and management.
Nature’s Taste, which operated as a restaurant/deli but closed its doors six months ago, will be reopening under the same name in coming weeks and will pitch itself as more of a smokehouse and BBQ restaurant, according to Nikolos Nerantzinis, the new co-owner and chef.
Nature’s Taste originally opened at 35-07 Ditmars Blvd in August 2014. The establishment operated as more of a take-out venue serving smoked meats and BBQ food. It also offered grass-fed, hormones-free meat, as well as fresh milk and eggs.
The eatery will continue to offer these products, but will have a stronger focus on the restaurant side of the business, according to Nerantzinis.
“We will still offer smoked meats and BBQ options,” he said. “But we will be more of a restaurant than a shop.”
The revamped establishment will provide seating for up to 35 people, Nerantzinis said. This is a significant increase from the small number of seats the eatery offered before.
Nature’s Taste will also have a new chef, as Nerantzinis will be taking over that duty.
The menu will include smoked meats and BBQ food, but is still being determined. He is working on obtaining a wine and beer license. The eatery previously did not serve alcohol.
The concept will not be the only change. The establishment has undergone a major renovation.
The restaurant will have a new counter and walls, according to Nerantzinis.
“It will be a nice looking restaurant,” he said. “It will fit our [BBQ] style.”
Nerantzinis came on board as a partner with the original owner, Theo Toumazou, three months ago while the revamp was already underway. He will serve as the manager and chef at the restaurant.
He said he came on board because he liked the concept.
“I like the idea of serving all-natural, smoked meats,” he said. “I believe in the product.”
He also likes the location of the restaurant.
“Ditmars [Blvd] is a very popular location and has a lot of foot traffic,” he said.
“We hope to open in a couple of weeks,” he said.
Featured Events
6 Comments
Good luck to the owners but the name makes it sound like spme organic gluten free non-GMO vitamin shop.
Greek owned bbq named natures’s taste. Doesn’t sound right.
The last place was horrific. Decent food but mediocre service, never had product and ugly. The new owner should absolutely change the name… Natures taste sounds like a produce store – no bbq. Plus it reminds me of the old crap hole.
Why doesn’t anyone open a BBQ where you get to slaughter your own animal in the restaurant then eat it?
I would also recommend that they try to be more clear on the focus of their new restaurant. I feel that part of the problem in the past was that they didn’t seem very focused. They had random ‘market’ type items for sale in the front…then towards the back they offered great items from local farms, but yet this was not very well publicized from the outside of the shop. (I think many people in the nabe would have been interested in buying antibiotic-free, free-range, etc. meats and eggs from a local farm…that’s hard to find elsewhere in Astoria…but from the outside of the shop most people had no idea these items were available for sale, or that they were free-range items). Then they had just the few tables up front. So it was all a bit random and felt like a mish-mash…no real sense of ‘direction’
Where are these local farms?
The grass fed beef and cage free chicken was very good. I bought meat from there often. They just didn’t push their concept enough. the staff were very nice though.