FORT GREENE — A Latin-American fusion restaurant headed up by a SoHo chef will soon replace the recently shuttered Mediterranean eatery Kif in Fort Greene.
Chef Felipe Donnelly, who owns Comodo restaurant in SoHo along with his wife Tamy Rofe, is preparing to open Colonia Verde at 219 DeKalb Ave.
Donnelly, who will be the co-owner and chef of Colonia Verde, described his restaurant as "Latin American-inspired with food from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.” He also said the restaurant would be focused on communal dining.
"What we are bringing into Brooklyn is much more of a sharing restaurant," he said. "Plates will be served family style."
He added that the most exciting part of his new eatery would be meats cooked on an open fire grill.
Comodo restaurant — open since July of 2012 — is also based on Latin American cuisine and has enjoyed a lot of success, Donnelly said.
"Thank God we have done very well in SoHo and we were received very well by our neighbors," he said, adding that he hopes to create the same environment in Fort Greene.
Colonia Verde's backyard — previously filled with wooden seating areas covered with embroidered pillows and tattered canvases — has been newly reconstructed with a steel frame and is enclosed by fiberglass. The space will be heated, air-conditioned and soundproofed so that patrons can dine in the back year-round, he said.
Community Board 2 voted on Wednesday night to support a liquor license that would allow Colonia Verde to serve alcohol until 2 a.m. daily.
Donnelly said his restaurant will open as soon as the State Liquor Authority approves his license.
