Bring on the chopsticks.
Zuma, the red-hot hot Japanese restaurant chain, is making its first foray into Manhattan, Side Dish has learned. While the site is still under wraps, a lease has been signed.
The upscale, celebrity-friendly chain, launched by chef Rainer Becker in London, is also in Hong Kong, Istanbul, Dubai and Miami.
The Manhattan deal between Zuma and developers Alex Sapir and Rotem Rosen was brokered by Paolo Zampolli, who could not be reached for comment.
In another Zampolli-brokered deal with Sapir and Rosen, Los Angeles-based Koi Group opened its first Manhattan eatery, Koi Soho, in Trump Hotel Soho on Friday.
Koi will also take over a 1,500-square-foot bar, the former Kastel space, in the hotel, Corinne Lazarz, Koi’s CFO, told Side Dish.
The bar, which will be renamed and renovated, will serve a Koi menu and include a Moroccan-themed design.
Koi Soho is the group’s fifth restaurant and marks the 10th anniversary of the company, which is searching for space to open additional restaurants in Miami and Washington, DC.
Koi Soho’s main dining room seats 109, with 76 seats in the mezzanine.
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Potbelly Sandwich Shop is opening its first New Jersey shop tomorrow at 15 Exchange Place in Jersey City. The Chicago-based chain has 12 stores in New York and is actively scouting for new locations in the tri-state area to add to its 260 stores nationwide.
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WE HEAR … that ‘21’ Club has re-opened its just-renovated two private event spaces, the Puncheon Room and Gallery that once entertained the Beatles, Jackie Kennedy and George Clooney.
Combined, the space — designed by architects Beyer Blinder Belle — seats 200 people for dinner and 450 for a reception. More than 60 percent of the club’s annual revenue comes from private-event viewings.
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SIGHTINGS: The world’s richest man, Mexico billionaire Carlos Slim, picked up the tab — yet again — after dining with New York Times publisher Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger and a leggy black-clad lady at Loi. … Serena Williams graciously acknowledged her fans while dining al fresco at Rue 57.