Kyma team unveils new three-story Greek restaurant in SoHo
- Jake Nicholas
- Jan 23
- 3 min read
SoHo is about to get its first true taste of modern Greek coastal dining—and it’s arriving at full scale.
Opening in early spring 2026 at 23 Grand Street, Selene by Kyma introduces a new chapter for two of Manhattan’s most influential hospitality forces. The three-story, 10,000-square-foot destination reunites Reno Christou, co-founder of Kyma, with James Ragonese, former managing partner at LDV Hospitality and longtime operator behind Scarpetta. After years of parallel careers across New York’s most respected dining rooms, the pair have come back together to create something entirely new for downtown.
Selene is conceived as a transportive, light-filled sanctuary in the heart of SoHo—designed to feel like a quiet Aegean escape without ever leaving Manhattan. The restaurant spans multiple dining rooms, a garden terrace, and a dramatic retractable-roof atrium that opens to the sky, inviting moonlight directly into the space. The feature nods to Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon, and anchors the restaurant’s identity as a place where atmosphere and dining are inseparable.
Seating ranges from 250 to 300 guests across a main dining room, lower dining room, bar lounge, and seasonal outdoor spaces. The scale alone makes Selene one of SoHo’s most ambitious openings in years—but its ambition goes beyond size.
Christou describes Selene as filling a gap between the celebratory energy of Kyma and the formality of institutions like Milos or Avra. Ragonese, who spent more than a decade shaping LDV Hospitality’s portfolio, sees it as a chance to bring the immersive energy of today’s Mediterranean dining scene abroad into a distinctly New York setting. The result is a restaurant that lets the evening unfold naturally—social, layered, and atmospheric without becoming overwhelming.
The menu centers on clarity and restraint. Whole grilled fish finished simply with lemon and olive oil. Charcoal-kissed octopus. Citrus-driven crudos. Seasonal vegetables with crisp textures. Handmade coastal pastas. Elevated Greek classics reinterpreted through a modern lens. Flavors lean briny, herbaceous, bright, and smoky. It’s not nostalgic or rustic—Selene is contemporary coastal Greek cooking, ingredient-led and precise, built around seafood, citrus, wild herbs, and elemental technique.
Tableside spectacle plays a key role in the experience: salt-baked fish served in the dining room, Mediterranean spreads prepared in front of guests, flambeed desserts, and cocktails finished on roaming carts. The approach reflects the duo’s belief that modern dining should feel interactive and memorable without becoming theatrical for its own sake.
The interiors are designed by KONDYLIS NYC, who describe the space as a sculptural, textural sanctuary blending Mediterranean warmth with SoHo minimalism. Draped ivory linens, woven reed ceilings, travertine stone, micro-cement floors, plaster arches, terracotta lighting, and Cycladic curves define the architecture. Custom furniture, ceramics, and textiles are handcrafted in Greece, grounding the experience in authenticity while maintaining a distinctly downtown edge. Olive trees, layered greenery, and soft earth tones recall Aegean sunsets beneath a retractable ceiling that opens the dining room to the night sky.
Music evolves throughout the evening, beginning warm and airy before deepening into a subtle, hypnotic rhythm as night falls. DJs appear on weekends, but the room is designed to remain conversational—social without being overpowering.
In a neighborhood known for fashion, galleries, and global dining—but surprisingly lacking a true Greek flagship—Selene arrives with purpose. It doesn’t mimic the past; it reimagines it. A modern Aegean sanctuary in the middle of Manhattan, designed to feel both escapist and rooted, elevated and effortless, coastal and unmistakably SoHo.
