{"id":149725,"date":"2026-03-02T15:19:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/149725\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T15:19:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:19:06","slug":"heres-the-uws-dish-the-grand-feasts-cioppino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/149725\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s the UWS Dish: The Grand Feast\u2019s Cioppino"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The cioppino at The Grand Feast. Photos by Abigael Sidi<\/p>\n

By Abigael T. Sidi<\/p>\n

For those of you still in need of warm, hearty soup, but looking for something a little different, I got you covered (I, for one, am done for the moment with onion soups, phos and ramens). Head straight to the Grand Feast (Amsterdam, between West 101st and 102nd streets), where a welcoming trio of Mexican \u201cbrothers,\u201d chef Jos\u00e9 Moran and managers Francisco Felipe and Juan Guzman, will serve you an absolute marvel of a fish stew.<\/p>\n

The dish, cioppino, and specifically their version of it, is exquisite.<\/p>\n

Cioppino, derived from a Genovese fish soup called \u201cciuppin\u201d (chopped in Ligurian dialect), originated in San Francisco in the late 19th century, when Italian immigrants working at Fisherman\u2019s Wharf would chip in portions of their catch to a communal pot. Whereas the original ciuppin was (and still is) as humble and rustic as it gets, the Italian-American cioppino evolved into a tomato sauce-heavy dish boasting more expensive seafood such as Dungeness crab and lobster. It is now a signature dish in the Bay Area but is much harder to find on the East Coast, even in Italian restaurants.<\/p>\n

The Grand Feast\u2019s version feels like a ciuppin\/cioppino hybrid, very similar to a French bouillabaisse: meaty and mineral fish flavors, rather than tomatoes, dominate the soup, while the seafood includes both high-end (scallops, shrimp) and humbler but no less delicious offerings (tilapia filets, clams, mussels).<\/p>\n

The seafood, purchased daily at local fish markets, is super fresh and amazingly well cooked. The light snap on the scallops and briny flavor from the clams are both highlights, and so is the succulent, hearty fish broth, whose silkiness and bold character rival some of the best soupes de poisson I had in Normandy as a child. As per tradition, the cioppino is served with a generous portion of bread (in this case, a sliced, warm and crispy half baguette), ideal for dipping and securing every last drop of the soup. The dish, a feast of its own and bursting with fragrance, is nothing short of divine.<\/p>\n

I asked Felipe to divulge chef Moran\u2019s recipe for the soup. \u201cA simmer of fish bones [to extract their gelatin, marrow and minerals, all crucial to the soup\u2019s richness, flavor and character], celery, carrots, tomatoes, fresh oregano, bay leaves, and fennel,\u201d he shared. \u201cBut there\u2019s something else that makes it more interesting\u2026 it\u2019s his secret.\u201d<\/p>\n

My dad\u2019s best guess for that secret ingredient? Saffron \u2013 the sublime, warm and floral, slightly bitter spice that transcends any dish it touches (from Italy to Morocco and Iran) and is common to most bouillabaisse recipes (in which the spice is also responsible for the soup\u2019s characteristic golden glow.) Felipe, however, declined to say more.<\/p>\n

The Grand Feast, which opened three years ago in the spot previously occupied by Cafe Roma, is the culmination of the trio\u2019s 25-year experience in the New York culinary industry. Friendly, personal, and equally professional, Moran, Felipe and Guzman offer an eclectic menu which highlights their expertise in many different styles of cooking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a family business,\u201d Felipe said. \u201cWe are three cousins \u200b\u200bwho consider ourselves brothers, and we run the business together. We have worked in different types of restaurants over the years, French, Italian, American, Mexican, Japanese, and others. That\u2019s where our story, \u2018The Grand Feast,\u2019 came from, which means a food festival \u2013 a large, elaborate, and celebratory meal, often featuring a wide variety of rich, high-quality and diversity of dishes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There are many more dishes to discover at The Grand Feast, including the highly advertised duck \u00e0 l\u2019orange and beef bourguignon, both recommended by the owners and customers alike. The interior is open but dim and quite intimate, and the walls feature iconic views of New York, Paris and Rome, in line with the cross-cultural cuisine. It was clear from my visit that the Grand Feast is building a loyal following among neighborhood residents and families, and the cioppino alone is worth the trip.<\/p>\n

The Grand Feast is open Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Friday to Saturday (brunch menu from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.), with pickup and delivery available at these times. To avoid fees, don\u2019t hesitate to give them a call (917-409-0772).<\/p>\n

Similar to other good spots in the area (Bosino<\/a>, Arco Caf\u00e9<\/a>, Raenu<\/a>), The Grand Feast is your quintessential family business deserving of all the support we can spare. The cioppino, duck and beef bourguignon are understandably on the higher end, but most salads go for $15 or less and the burger is $18. Pay them a visit soon!<\/p>\n

The Dish: Cioppino ($28).<\/p>\n

The Restaurant: The Grand Feast: 854 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 101st and 102nd streets<\/p>\n

Subscribe to West Side Rag\u2019s FREE email newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>. And you can Support the Rag\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The cioppino at The Grand Feast. Photos by Abigael Sidi By Abigael T. Sidi For those of you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63,62690],"class_list":["post-149725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-grand-feast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}