Missy Robbins

Photo: courtesy of A Voce

A Voce soft-opens its Time Warner Center outpost today, and the pressure is on for chef Missy Robbins. Not only is she opening the new location in the same building as legendary restaurants Per Se and Masa, she’s still running the kitchen at the Madison Avenue flagship. We caught up with Robbins over Labor Day weekend.

Zagat Buzz: So how are you dealing with the stress?

Missy Robbins: It’s a lot of pressure. I can’t be in two places at once, but if I’m at one place, I’m on the phone with the other one. And I’m building a great support team – I have two fantastic chefs de cuisine, four sous-chefs at Time Warner and two Downtown, plus a pastry chef who oversees both.

ZB: How will the new location differ from the original restaurant?

MR: A lot of the dishes pay respect to regions in the same way, and there is still a lack of manipulation of the ingredients, but I didn’t want to make a carbon copy of the menu. There is a chic antipasti selection and a large salumi program at the new place; I’ve taken a lot of time to source for these. We kept getting samples, which was fun.

ZB: You worked for some pretty impressive chefs. How have they influenced your cooking?

MR: Wayne Nish taught me the finer points of luxury ingredients like caviar and truffles. Anne Rosenzweig was the opposite. She was focused more on flavor and comfort food, and Tony Mantuano helped me to understand Italian food and the philosophy of simplicity and ingredient-driven cooking.

ZB: The new place was supposed to open about six months ago. Were there any major setbacks?

MR: Not really. We originally put in a plancha and I didn’t like it, so I had it replaced with a six-burner stove. But I’m actually glad I had the extra time – I was hired a year ago and this gave me a chance to settle in Downtown.

ZB: Gray Kunz famously built the kitchen overlooking the park. Does it still have that view?

MR: We did move part of it away from the window, but the other part still does face the park.

ZB: Not a lot of chefs can say that. Have your new neighbors come by to visit?

MR: I haven’t seen Tom Keller yet, but Michael Lomonaco has been by and everyone has been extremely welcoming. It’s an honor to be in the same building with them.

ZB: Do you feel the need to keep up with their stellar reviews?

MR: We are not aiming to be a four-star restaurant; my focus is on creating another great A Voce. … [A review] is good feedback, but you cook the way you cook. I would never change a dish if I knew a critic was there. I can just pay special attention and make sure it is prepared perfectly.

ZB: Are you getting any sleep?

MR: Five to six hours, and I am an eight- to 10-hour girl. But the opening is giving me a lot of adrenaline.

– Beth Landman