“Entrepreneurship is born either out of necessity or some sort of creative juice,” Christian Pappanicholas claimed one sunny day in his restaurant Resto. “Cannibal was from necessity.” As the nose-to-tail large-format dining of Resto grew in popularity, the kitchen was overwhelmed with the number of animal carcasses they needed on hand to be prepared. Five to six parties came in ordering entire beasts a week, and Christian found himself having to keep the meat in the beer cellar, a less-than-ideal situation. Thus, when the adjacent space became available, he snapped it up, and it quickly developed, among other things, into a butcher shop.
Christian is an avid cycling fan - his favorite biker being Eddie Merckx, considered one of the greatest of all time. He was such a monster on the track that a daughter of an opponent nicknamed him “the Cannibal.” And in homage to Merckx, Christian chose this name for his new venture.
What started as a butcher shop and artisan charcuterie, has since become much more. Beginning by stocking craft beers, Christian and his team realized that as their inventory increased, they needed to expand their food selection accordingly. Now Cannibal has a full menu and a lovely outdoor seating area to match. Popping in one afternoon, the Manhattan Sideways guys sampled the lamb merguez sausage and were "blown away," and then got to wash it down with a full-bodied ale brewed in Maine. They were grinning from ear to ear.
Like their sister restaurant next door, Cannibal also offers whole animals in large-format dining. Unlike their neighbors, they cook the whole animal at once, preparing appropriate sides and garnishes depending on the animal being eaten. Otherwise, plates are mostly smaller, and many customers choose to share several at a time. Diners at the restaurant can watch butchers and chefs slice and plate homemade pate and terrines, sausages, tartare, fine cheeses, and vegetable dishes before digging in with friends at either the communal bar or butcher bar seating. The vibe is a bit more down-home, as one might expect from a butcher’s-cum-eatery, but the quality of the food does not suffer a bit. In this increasingly vegetarian world, it is good to know that somebody is holding down the fort for the meat-eaters.
