Area Four Will Open A4 at Troy in the South End

Area Four (Kendall Square) and A4 Pizza (Union Square) will soon have a new sibling, reports Boston Restaurant Talk: A restaurant called A4 at Troy will open in the Troy Boston apartment building (55 Traveler St.) in the South End. A rep for the growing pizza-focused restaurant group confirms the news, but no opening timeline has been announced yet. Michael Krupp and Jeff Pond are partners in the expansion; Pond is the executive chef.

Area Four and A4 Pizza feature wood-fired pizzas with a variety of toppings, as well as small selections of "not pizza" items, like garlic knots, salads, and more. Area Four — the larger and older of the two — serves brunch, lunch, and dinner, while A4 is only open for dinner. Area Four is four years old, and A4's second birthday was yesterday.

While it's not clear yet how closely A4 at Troy will mirror either of the existing locations (which each has its own personality), Pond, director of operations Joe Barone, and A4 general manager Erin Cronin recently chatted about beer pairings with Eater. Within that conversation, Pond and Barone talked about their readiness to expand — and how important it is to fit the place to the neighborhood. "If we do another one somewhere else, at some point you’re going to have to figure that neighborhood out," Pond said. "You can’t go in with a predisposed view of how you’re going to do things without any change. Those days are over."

At the moment, A4 Pizza is closed until further notice — along with its neighbor Dosa N Curry — due to a "utility issue in the neighborhood" that began on August 2.

Troy Boston will also be home to a location of Cuppacoffee, a Haymarket coffee shop that offers Australian specialties like meat pies. Construction at the new shop is almost complete.

UPDATE: As noted above, Krupp and Pond are the co-owners of A4 at Troy. While Lumiere's Michael Leviton co-founded the Area Four brand, he and Krupp have parted ways to "pursue separate passions," according to an official statement, which notes that Leviton has not been "directly involved" with Area Four or A4 Pizza for almost a year. Instead, he is focusing on Lumiere and "his commitment to education around the importance of creating a sustainable food system that will benefit chefs and diners alike."

Meanwhile, Krupp is focused on the operations of Area Four and A4 Pizza, "with an eye toward future expansion of the Area Four brand." Pond, who has been involved with Area Four and A4 Pizza all along as chef, moved into the role of executive chef and partner of both earlier this spring.