Fox & the Knife Is Now Open in South Boston
Wind down with a glass of wine, bar snacks, and hand-rolled pasta by award-winning chef Karen Akunowicz.
Chef Karen Akunowicz. / Photo by Jim Sullivan
It’s almost apertivo hour. Fox & the Knife, Boston’s newest Italian kitchen and wine bar and the highly anticipated debut from James Beard award-winner Karen Akunowicz, opens tonight at 4 p.m. Located in South Boston right across from Broadway station, it’s a cozy, comfortable restaurant evoking Modena, Italy, where Akunowicz spent a formative year before rising to chef stardom in Boston. Check out the opening menu below.
Fox & the Knife quietly opened the doors to friends, family, and Southie locals over the weekend. The former Maiden space retains the white oak bar as the focal point of the restaurant, now aglow from a neon pink “Stay Foxy” sign, and surrounded by shelves of intriguing wines and Italian liqueurs. The team at RODE Architects helped Akunowicz add in a chef’s counter overlooking the open kitchen; its seats about 80 people overall.
Akunowicz was a Top Chef: California (season 13) competitor who helmed Myers + Chang for seven years, leaving as a partner last summer to open her own place. The pink-coiffed chef is a past Best of Boston: Up-and-Coming Chef honoree, and her local resume also includes working for Michael Schlow at Via Matta, and Ana Sortun at Oleana.
At Fox & the Knife, Akunowicz is inspired by the easy-to-adopt tradition of aperitivo: the after-work wind-down of wine and pre-dinner snacks that’s popular across Italy. “My goal is always to have folks comes into the restaurant and leave feeling better than when they walked in,” she said.
Alongside drinks-friendly dishes like fried chili chickpeas; house-made breads; burrata; and an homage to Caesar salad made with crispy grilled broccoli, Akunowicz has a selection of handmade pastas and heartier fare. The soulful cuisine reveals the chef’s penchant for bold, contemporary flavors: Rich tagliatelle wild boar Bolognese; parsnip-filled winter tortelli; and harissa-braised lamb shank with carrot polenta and mint gremolata.
Executive sous chef Molly Dwyer is a Tremont 647 alum, and sous chef Tessa Bristol worked with Akunowicz at Myers + Chang. Alexandra Hayden, another M+C alum, is general manager, and is responsible for Fox & the Knife’s selection of apertifs, spritzes and draft cocktails, and mainly natural wines.
Fox & the Knife is now open Monday-Saturday at 4 p.m. for aperitivo, and 5:30 p.m. for dinner.
28 W. Broadway, South Boston, 617-766-8630, foxandtheknife.com.
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