Sneak a Peek at Asta, Aiming to Open January 16

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The restaurant that might have been named "Princess Sparkle Power Pickle Bunny" could open as early as January 16th. Asta, as it is really called, is still missing tables, cushions for the benches, and chairs, aside from a few shiny stand-in chairs that won't make the final cut, but the 45-seat space at 47 Massachusetts Ave. is shaping up.

Key features include plenty of exposed brick, a couple high-top tables, and a wide-open kitchen at the back, visible from any seat in the house. The high ceiling, which has been painted gold, was hidden above a two-foot drop ceiling, and a long bench spans most of the left side of the restaurant. A few relics of past occupants remain in the space, such as a freshly touched up painting of Zeus, done by the son of the owner of Despina's, the restaurant that inhabited the space in 1987. The signage of the most recent restaurant, Café 47, also proved useful: subtitled "pizza + pasta," it merely needed some paint to cover up letters, leaving only "47" and "asta."

While chef/owner Alex Crabb and partner Shish Parsigian aren't ready to share new details about the menu just yet, Parsigian confirms that it will exclusively feature three-, five-, and eight-course tastings, as previously reported. Crabb is an alum of L'Espalier, while Parsigian comes from Hi-Rise Bread Company, and they've thrown around words like "unfussy," "neighborhood feel," and "homestyle" in describing the Asta concept, although the five-course and eight-course menus will get a little bit more "adventurous" than the smallest option.

· Five courses with Alex Crabb and Shish Parsigian of Asta [Phoenix]
· All coverage of Asta on Eater [~EBOS~]