44-07 Queens Blvd (Photo: QueensPost)
Feb. 14, 2012 By Christian Murray
The former proprietor of Bliss Bistro is opening Tapenade, a casual French restaurant located at 44-07 Queens Blvd, on Thursday.
Alim Maruf, with his business partner Abu Khan, will be marking the restaurant’s grand opening by offering free drinks and hors d’oeuvres from 12 p.m. through 10 p.m.
“Tapenade will be a French bistro–just more affordable and with a larger menu than what Bliss Bistro had,” Maruf said. Bliss Bistro was a French restaurant located on Skillman Ave. (46th St.) that closed about 12 months ago.
Tapenade will offer typical French fare, with a brunch and dinner menu. The brunch menu will includes: omelets (9.50); eggs Benedict ($9.50); eggs Florentine ($9:00); quiche ($6.50); and sandwiches ($7.00 -$8.00).
For dinner, the restaurant will offer appetizers such as calamari ($7.00) and escargot ($6.50) and entrees that include duck ($14.00), pastas ($8.50), shell steak ($20.00), Black Angus hangar steak ($18.00) and New Zealand lamb chops ($20.00). The restaurant is expected to have its liquor license in a month.
Maruf will be in competition with the recently opened Bliss 46, which is a French restaurant run by Bliss Bistro’s former chef. However, he is not concerned about the competition, saying he has another expert chef—and that his restaurant will pay particular attention to ambiance, music and decoration.
While Maruf misses the neighborhood feel of Skillman Avenue, he expects to do much better in his new space. “Queens Blvd is the heart of Sunnyside where people come from all over…there is the subway and it is accessible to people from both sides of the blvd.”
The restaurant will be able to cater to 58 diners inside and as many as 50 in the patio out the back. He will open the patio in summer.
The restaurant will be open seven days from 11:30 a.m. through 11 p.m.
