The restaurateur at the vanguard of the vegan revolution is currently developing a brand new concept for midtown.
Guy Vaknin is currently known as one of the most celebrated plant-based chefs currently working in New York. Born and raised in Israel, Vaknin spent his youth helping his family prepare meals with the freshest local vegetables, herbs, and spices. When he finished his military duties in the Israel Defense Force, Vaknin began pursuing a career in the restaurant industry and graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education in 2007. Together with his wife and business partner, Tali Vaknin , the two developed an innovative new vegan sushi restaurant called Beyond Sushi.
Today, Guy and Tali are the operators of City Roots Hospitality, New York’s leading vegan restaurant group. Beyond Sushi now operates five distinct locations across Manhattan, and What Now New York recently covered the launch of his newest restaurant, the plant-based Italian restaurant Coletta. Highlighting the distinct flavors of Italy with fresh vegetables and masterful preparation, Coletta has quickly become one of the city’s favorite spots for an indulgent, Italian vegan meal.
Now, Vaknin is getting ready to develop a brand new concept for Midtown. His latest project, Anixi, is envisioned as a “New vegan North East Mediterranean concept” and is expected to open up at 290 Eighth Avenue. Given his Israeli background, Guy’s new Mediterranean concept is sure to be something special, as the cuisine is very near to his heart.
Anixi will be moving into the space that was previously occupied by Lombardi’s, a longstanding pizzeria that claims to be “America’s First Pizzeria”. Tracing their recipe back to 1905, the Gennaro Lombardi crafted pizza has been serving Little Italy for over a century. While their original Spring Street location is still operational, their Chelsea outpost closed its doors during the pandemic and has remained vacant since. Thankfully, Chef Guy is poised to transform the space into a dynamic new concept that will be sure to attract fans from across the city.
The location is rather spacious, and is expected to be able to seat about 150 guests inside at one time. Guy is also looking to acquire a full liquor license for his new space, and is proposing operating hours of 4:30 PM – 10:30 PM on weekdays, and 11:30 AM – 10:30 PM on weekends. While Anixi is still too early into development to have its own social media presence, you can follow Chef Guy on Instagram for regular updates on all of his latest projects.
