Coming soon: In Milton Village, Two Pence Market (2 Eliot St.) will open in early summer from Dan Kerrigan, who operates the town’s ever-popular Steel & Rye.
Two Pence — inside a refurbished bank, hence the name — will focus on homemade bagels, juices, smoothies, prepared meals, and provisions.
“This side of Milton’s community doesn’t have a ton of accessible grocery options or quick, thoughtful, convenient food,” Kerrigan says.
The team behind The Banks, Bistro du Midi, Grill 23, and Harvest have splashy plans for Boston’s Seaport. Himmel Hospitality Group will open Le Boulevard, a French bistro, and Bar 23, a smaller version of steakhouse Grill 23, in spring 2027.
While many national steak chains have settled in the Seaport in recent years — including the upcoming Hawksmoor and Maple & Ash — Himmel is locally owned.
Bar 23 (11 Fan Pier Blvd.) will be a cozy, 75-seat Grill 23 spinoff. Here, chef-partner Robert Sisca promises “ice-cold martinis” and a steak menu that echoes its Back Bay counterpart.
“We’ll have the steak trinity: Kobe, 100-day ribeye, and dry-aged sirloin,” says Sisca.
The formula works: Back Bay’s Grill 23 has stayed open since 1983.
Le Boulevard (10 Fan Pier Blvd.) will be a Parisian-inspired restaurant with 250 seats, including a big patio. Sisca has eyed the neighborhood for a French restaurant for years.
People in the Seaport are “looking for a great atmosphere, a good-looking venue, and something more fun,” Sisca says.
And something luxurious: He says that “steak frites will be huge,” with multiple varieties, along with Dover sole, escargot, and bouillabaisse.
Brendan Pelley — the chef known for Xenia Hospitality Group’s acclaimed Bar Vlaha, Krasi, and others — is striking out on his own.
Pelley will open Kri Kri Grill in his hometown of Chelmsford this summer (18 Boston Road). Like the other restaurants, Kri Kri focuses on Greek food. However, this a separate and solo venture, inspired by a vacation Pelley and his wife took to Crete. Kri Kri, in fact, is named for a wild Cretan mountain goat.
“I had the idea of a casual Greek restaurant going back 10-plus years,” Pelley says. ”I was on a hike with my wife in Crete, and we saw these cool mountain goats, and I made up my mind, then and there, that this would be my mascot.”
Kri Kri replaces a gyro restaurant, Pita, and will have a similar counter-service feel, with 36 seats. But the menu goes deep: Expect made-to-order sourdough pita bread and carved meats, grilled dolmas, mezze, seafood, pastitsio, spanakopita (Pelley’s favorite), moussaka, hand-cut fries, and homemade ice cream.
“This is the kind of food I love to eat, and it also fills a void [in the Merrimack Valley]: a place where people can get really good, homestyle Greek cooking,” he says.
Pitas will also be available in rice-bowl form, with “zippy sauces, tons of herbs, crunchy bits, pickled things, all the good stuff,” Pelley promises. “This is really healthy, delicious food that’s made from scratch by a chef-owned, family-owned business.”
He’s also eager to showcase his favorite (but less healthy) “sick day treat”: Chelmsford ginger ale, a Merrimack Valley staple, rife with caramel but zingier than a traditional ginger ale. He’ll serve it as an ice cream float. There’s also a Greek beverage program: beer, wine, soda, and coffee.
Pelley has a young family, and he’s excited to work closer to home, he says. He will continue an advisory role in Xenia. That company was recently in the news when Xenia CEO Demetri Tsolakis was sued by the restaurant group behind Committee in the Seaport, alleging that Tsolakis used corporate funds for personal expenses and competing restaurants while a general manager there.
Pelley’s independent venture is slated to debut in July. When he’s not behind the counter, you might find him at his two favorite pizza places in Chelmsford: Joanie’s and Big Al’s. The latter is run by Watertown wunderkind Tim Maslow, late of Strip-T’s.
“They’re both making really good pizza with high-quality ingredients, and the chefs are actually cooking the food. Big Al’s cheesesteaks are insane: freshly baked sub rolls,” he says.
In the Merrimack Valley, there’s also “great Mexican food, great Cambodian, really good Indian food, great Thai food,” Pelley adds. ”There’s a lot of little holes in the wall.”
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her @kcbaskin.
