At the last stop on the northern end of the Q train — the new 96th St. station in Yorkville — new commuters are bringing new life to the northeastern corners of the Upper East Side. Hopefully, great small businesses like these three will continue to blossom.
Wings and other tasty things
International Wings Factory is no ordinary house of hot wings, thanks to the dedication of owner Deepak Ballaney, a former consulting chef and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.
Determined not to take out loans to open his own restaurant, Ballaney settled on fast food, but didn’t want to skimp on flavor. He now makes more than a dozen sauces to dress his hormone-free chicken, including one with a Tandoori-masala rub; and another with a parmesan-buerre blanc sauce you can only order in-house for maximum butteriness. (Wings start at $5.50 for four.)
This spring, Ballaney also launched a Friday through Wednesday project he’s calling Fishwiches, inspired by the requests of his pescatarian wife and daughter. Fresh fillets are fried in one of Ballaney’s many sauces and seasoning mixes — like Cajun-spiced or black pepper-teryiaki — and served with tater tots or in a brioche bun with crunchy vegetables. Prices vary by fish: wild-caught cod is $8, mahi-mahi is $10, while whiting and tilapia are $7.
International Wings Factory: 1762 First Ave., near E. 91st St., (212) 348-2627
Lovin’ from the oven
Mohamed Kerikar and Philip Bozzo come from different culinary cultures — Kerikar is French-Moroccan, Bozzo has Italian roots — but both love spice-rubbed, slow-cooked, succulent roasted meats, like the Italian crispy-skinned pork called porchetta or mechoui, the spit-cooked Moroccan lamb.
These became the basis of their five-year-old takeout spot called Au Jus, appropriately named after the French term for something served with its natural juices. Meats form the basis of the menu, which includes pork, chicken, lamb, beef (or portobello mushrooms, for those who don’t eat animals) sold by the pound or the platter, as well as soups, salads, sides and sandwiches.
The sandwich list includes a Cuban made with shreds of porchetta ($9.95); a smoked turkey ($8.95) with slices of Granny Smith apples, cheddar and a horseradish dressing, which also comes on the sliced roast beef sandwich with bacon, avocado and cucumbers ($9.95). Not from the oven but equally homey is a 100% beef Niman Ranch hot dog ($3.95) served on a pillow of a potato bun.
Au Jus: 1762 First Ave., near E. 91st St., (646) 476-3580
Uptown’s new pie guy
Before he opened the first G&J’s Pizzeria two years ago, owner Greg Barrios, Jr. wasn’t “a pizza fanatic,” he says. But the 23-year-old LIU Brooklyn business graduate and fine dining aficionado knew the smart way to become an entrepreneur was to take over an existing pizzeria, laundromat or deli, he says, because you make a profit on day one.
Yet only pizza, says Barrios, would let him build a brand. So with help from Juan Saravia — an accountant and a friend since high school — they decided to take over and make-over an old pizzeria in Yorkville, adding an East Harlem outpost this spring.
Barrios learned the ropes of pie-making from his existing staff, but he’s adding upgrades to the menu. Now there are still $2.75 slices, but also excellent twice-fried salt and pepper hand-cut French fries ($4) and a crispy chicken sandwich ($6) where the cutlet is made from scratch. (Barrios makes the breading from the leftover Italian hero rolls for house-made meatballs or eggplant parm, both $8.)
G&J’s Pizzeria: 1797 1st Ave., at E. 94th St., (212) 534-3173
