Chef Kevin Finch and Alexa Finch have turned the former Fulgurances space (related to the one in Paris that opened in 2015 but also closed) into their first new restaurant: The couple is opening Arthur, a neighborhood bistro-ish restaurant, at 132 Franklin Street, between Milton Street and Greenpoint Avenue, on Friday, April 10.
Before he was focused on Arthur, Kevin had been cooking at pop-ups around the world while based in Salt Lake City with Alexa (who also goes by Lex). His culinary resume includes being the chef de cuisine of Dominique Crenn’s fine dining restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco when it earned three Michelin stars.
Kevin had two three-month residencies at Fulgrances in 2022, first in Brooklyn and then in Paris, France. He helped out during chef Adam Lawrence’s stay in Brooklyn during the summer of 2024. That’s when Fulgrances co-founders Hugo Hivernat and Pierre Buffet approached him about taking over the address.
The restaurant joins a handful of other new spots, including Gigi’s, at 138 Franklin Street near Greenpoint Avenue, which is opening on Wednesday, April 8, by the co-founders of Fulgrances, as well as the new bar Sonny’s Corner from Tony Ismail and David Doyle, which opened in February in the former Pencil Factory space. These restaurants build on the restaurant row that’s been building in Greenpoint.
Arthur. Evan Sung
The Finches want Arthur to work as a neighborhood restaurant with Parisian bistro-meets-New American approaches. “Nothing fine-dining but not so casual like a burger neighborhood restaurant kind of vibe,” Kevin explains.
The team wanted to make sure that the 38-seat space felt different from Fulgrances. This meant brightening up the dining room, expanding the kitchen, and bringing in the original woodworker who built the bar to expand it and refinish other furniture. They also hired a signmaker to mimic the existing “Laundry” signage on the window to echo the address on the other side.
Kevin gave himself some constraints for the a la carte dinner menu, including sourcing all the main ingredients regionally. “That’s the creativity box that I put myself into: highlight the Northeast,” he says. “I’ll never be able to cook Spanish turbot, and it breaks my heart.”
He’s hyped about the beef tartare ($23): “We’re not recreating the wheel, but it’s very exciting.” He’s using beef from Highland Hollow Farm in Schoharie, New York, which is tossed with black garlic oil, raw shallots, and chives, and then gets black garlic yolk jam, an oyster emulsion, and puffy rice chips.
Kevin is sourcing scallops from one of the last existing hand-dive scallop businesses in Maine. For his dish ($38), he took his cues from Paris restaurant Le Bon George, where two huge scallops get barbecued over charcoal and glazed, served with a white turnip puree and small barbecued Tokyo turnips. At the table, a staffer will pour a beef consomme on top of it, which will be made with reserved scallop roe.
Alexa Finch and Kevin Finch in front of Arthur. Evan Sung
The $36 steak will be simple: Highland Hollow cuts, whatever is available, that gets glazed with a tare and brushed with beef fat, fleur de sel, black pepper, horseradish, and onion flowers. It’ll be served with seasonal produce — currently, that’s spring onions.
For sweets, Kevin points to the tart ambroise ($14), where the ganache of the sabayon is made with ripe bananas and chiles, and the dessert is served with a banana peel-rum caramel. “In appearance, it’s incredibly simple, and it looks like it doesn’t take that much,” he says, “but the technique is actually a lot. Simple cooking is not actually easy.”
The name comes from Kevin’s father, Greg, whose middle name is Arthur. When Kevin’s grandfather, also named Arthur, passed away, Kevin’s father used the name for restaurants and hotels. “It’s his alter ego,” Kevin says. “When he’s Arthur, he’s allowed to have tuna on rye instead of wheat.”
Charlotte Mirzoeff is the general manager and beverage director. She met Kevin while they both worked at Maialino. Her NYC resume also includes Union Square Cafe wine bar Ruffian, and she had been the general manager and beverage director of natural wine bar Kindred. Her most recent position was at Italian restaurant Forsythia.
Arthur’s cocktail list has three pre-batched freezer drinks, variations on classics that’ll change. The brioche martini ($18) is made with a butter fat-washed gin that gets diluted with barley tea, which “gives it this brioche-y, bready thing going on,” Mirzoeff says.
The mushroom tart at Arthur. Evan Sung
Mirzoeff wanted to keep most of the by-the-glass wine options around $14-$15, featuring lesser-known wine regions and appellations, she explains, “that are more value-driven but that are really exciting.” Champagnes will be a big component too.
The Northeast focus applies to beers, all from New York state, outside of Miller High Life, per Kevin’s request. The spirits are also New York-based.
When it comes to Arthur, Lex talks about being an “aspiring institution.” She continues: ‘It can be what you want it to be, where it feels reliable and consistent.”
Arthur will open for dinner hours starting at 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Reservations can be booked on Resy, and there is room for walk-ins.