Aug. 20, 2014 By Christian Murray
Two long-serving chefs from the up-market Manhattan restaurant Il Mulino opened an Italian restaurant in Long Island City last week.
The restaurant, called Il Falco, opened at 21-50 44th Drive and serves high-end northern and southern Italian food. It offers all the traditional Italian dishes from pasta to chicken sautéed in a variety of sauces.
The chef is Segundo Tinishanay, who rose through the ranks to become the chef at Il Mulino, where he served U.S. presidents and captains of industry—such as Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Bill Gates.
Tinishanay, an immigrant from Ecuador, started working at Il Mulino in 1986 in the salad station, before being promoted to the pasta station, then the grill and ultimately the chef. He was just 17 when he started.
“I didn’t feel ready to be chef at the time…but my boss Gino Masci said he would help me,” Tinishanay said. “He taught me everything about the kitchen… and I worked very hard and learned so much.”
Tinishanay later went on to train the kitchen staff at other Il Mulino restaurants that subsequently opened in Miami and Las Vegas.
Tinishanay hired Bolivar Perez, his brother-in-law, more than 20 years ago as a line cook. Perez, who is a partner at Il Falco, worked his way up to become sous-chef.
Today, both men have hired their adult children to work at Il Falco—with Tinishanay’s daughter as cashier and son a bus boy—while Perez’ daughter is the host and a son as bus boy.
Meanwhile, Perez’ cousin Albino Sanchez, who worked at Il Mulino for 16 years, is a waiter at Il Falco.
Tinishanay, Perez and Sanchez all come from a small town in Ecuador called Chunchi, which has a population of less than 10,000 people.
“We have all worked in the restaurant business a long time–since we were very young,” Tinishanay said. “We wanted to open a place of our own and we feel Long Island City is a good place to do that…with all these big buildings.”
The restaurant has an upstairs space for private functions that can seat about 35 people. The main dining room has space for about 40 seats.
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8 Comments
there are no restrictions on this side of lic! would love to eat there!
We are quite fortunate to have these very talented restaurantuers settle in our nabe. Look forward to becoming a regular and watching them succeed and expand the franchise in time. Welcome to the LIC community Segundo and Bolivar and best wishes!!!
I’ve been (and left a Yelp review), and I’ve got to say the food is ASTOUNDING. It’s certainly not cheap, but for the quality, it was well worth it. Every bite was delicious.
One curiosity I had, however, was where the hell the kitchen was located. They were bringing from from the basement — which they had to go out back to access — and cooking in front of us on portable cookers. When it gets colder, they won’t be able to go in and out the back (without creating a chilly draft). So, my assumption is that they will be using a dumbwaiter system, which I THINK I saw.
Yoni reminds me why I really can’t stand LIC anymore — this constant stream of bitchy commentary and attitudes by so many people here.
A new restaurant run by hardworking successful immigrants decides to invest in our neighborhood, and all these jackasses can do is stoop as low as possible and deliver the snarky broadsides.
Everyone in LIC is constantly demanding new businesses, new changes, new this, new that. A couple of guys take them up on the offer, seem committed to making great food (from the Yelp reviews anyway), and then they get ridiculed? I honestly don’t get it.
I really don’t care if a taxi business is next door or what hats the guys wear. This is LIC — where do you think you are living? Whether I decide to go there or not, I respect that they are investing in our neighborhood and want us to come to their place. That’s nothing to mock them for.
It’s real high end being right next to the taxi meter garage and the 70’s waiters in a tuxedo with the jack tripper chef hats to match them. They’re just forgetting Isac from the love boat to bartend.
It is most about the food yes, but I’m surprised they didn’t renovate much inside at all. They could have made it a nicer atmosphere inside …
Excited to try this place too!
@Tanya, come on now, you know why they can use their backyard… they aren’t located between 48th and 46th on Vernon and/or their neighbors don’t have community leaders in their back pockets!
Not sure I understand why this restaurant has outdoor space they can use, when so many other spots that space they are not allowed to use. That said, can’t wait to try Il Falco!