Patricia Yeo Gives us a Sneak Preview of Moksa, Opening Next Month

The blueprint for Moksa, slated to open mid-next month. All photos by Leah Mennies.

Earlier this month, I showed you a preview of Patricia Yeo’s menu for Moksa, her highly anticipated izakaya in Central Square. Though the concept was originally slated to open in December, it’s now been pushed back to the middle of next month.

“This has been the longest gestation ever,” Yeo told me yesterday, when I visited her in the still-rough space for a preview of the massive 8,500 square ft (!!) space. So while you may not be able to sample Yeo’s small plates and skewers for a few more weeks, you can learn about Moksa’s separate night club, “restaurant within the restaurant,” and bristled walls ahead.

The still-papered-over windows at the Central Square spot will eventually be the entrance to the space. During warmer months, there will be outdoor patio seating for 40.

Above, the final logo for the concept (originally, there was a trident within the “o”).

After walking through the front entrance you will land here, the front lounge of the space, which seats 60. The full dinner menu will be available here, and Yeo says the center of the room will be anchored by a large communal table. Booze-wise, expect astrology-themed craft cocktails from bar manager (and sommelier and sake specialist) Noon Inthasuwan, who also is working with Cambridge Brewing Company for a custom, Asian-inspired Moksa brew.

The next room is the main dining room (the door at the end leads to the lounge), which seats about 80, Yeo says. The floors and open ceilings will stay largely the same to reflect Moksa’s street-food roots, though six-foot gold bamboo banquettes along the right wall will add a dose of glitz. The bar on the left will be an eight-seat food bar that will function as a “restaurant within a restaurant” with a separate higher-end (and daily-changing) prix-fixe menu.

At the end of this hallway will be a doorway separating the back nightlife space from the restaurant. In a Get Him to the Greek-esque design move, the walls in this hallway will be decked out in a dark bristles.

The back of the space is a large room that will serve as both a private dining area and a nightclub called Naga, which means dragon. The space will have a separate entrance than Moksa, though it will share the same coat check and bathrooms. There’s still some exciting news in here for gourmands: Yeo says she will also use the space to host cooking classes, and she already has a superstar lined up: offal fanatic and Food Network personality Chris Cosentino of San Francisco’s Incanto restaurant.

Above is the kitchen, which will contain a special Japanese coal-fired satay grill that Yeo imported from Southeast Asia. She plans to use it for the skewer section of the small plates menu.

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