Celestine Starts Slamming Mediterranean Fare on Dumbo Waterfront Tonight

Dumbo’s newest neighborhood restaurant with a sweeping view of the Manhattan skyline opens tonight. Celestine — from the team behind stand-by’s like Rucola and Grand Army — will be open dinner starting Thursday evening at 1 John Street, near Pearl Street.

The full menu, now available and viewable below, is intended to span countries around the Mediterranean, from Italy to Greece to Turkey to Lebanon. Chef Garett McMahan is an alum of fine dining establishments like Perilla and Bouley.

A mezze section with couscous salad, deviled egg sabich, and a za’atar flatbread starts off the menu. A separate start section includes short rib Turkish manti, a form of dumpling, and grilled delicata squash with concord-braised cabbage and ricotta. Mains, ranging from $28 to $36, include a mushroom tart with feta, blackberry, and kale, as well as a roasted chicken accompanied by rice. Tables can also opt to do a family-style meal for $75 per person, with two starters and two mains.

The restaurant, which seats 85 people inside and will eventually have an outdoor patio for about 45, isn’t quite as big as other waterfront restaurants that have debuted in Dumbo this year.

As such, the partners behind the project — Julian Brizzi (Rucola), Noah Bernamoff (Grand Army, Mile End), Matthew Maddy and Nico Arze (designers behind Lilia), and Joe Campanale (formerly L’Artusi) — are positioning it more as a neighborhood restaurant that happens to have a splashy view of lower Manhattan.

See photos of the space here, and take a look at the full opening food, wine, and drink menu below.