Toro Plans to Open in New York

Major restaurant news: Toro, the hugely popular tapas spot helmed by Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette, will be trying its hand in NYC. Per a post on NYT’s Diner’s Journal blog:

The two will cook at the New York restaurant when it opens in the fall in Chelsea, where it will join at least six Spanish restaurants and wine bars in the neighborhood. It will be in the same former Nabisco factory as Colicchio & Sons and Del Posto, with the same street address, but it will be on the West 15th Street side of the building, between 10th and 11th Avenues.

It’s a huge move for the duo, and a rare one for a Boston restaurant (save for, er, Olives). They’ll be up against a lot of demanding (and by nature, skeptical) New Yorkers, to be sure, but if anyone can pull it off it’s Bissonnette and Oringer.

Plus, they do have one big-deal fan already present in New York: former NYT food critic Frank Bruni, who tweeted “Was VERY happy at Toro. Wish NY had one,” after visiting the restaurant in 2010.

We reached Bissonnette for comment, who was surprised to see the story up online. “We are still in the development stages,” he told me, and is otherwise staying mum for now—we’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

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