A talk with, and take on, the restaurant owner who says he’s abandoning NYC expansion

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Having owned a restaurant, worked in food service most of my life and now writing about it, not much surprises me. But Stratis Morfogen’s sensationalized interview in the New York Post rankled me—especially that headline: “NYC restaurateur cancels expansion plans following Zohran Mamdani victory: ‘I’m not signing.’”

Gloomy doesn’t begin to describe it. Where’s the Big Apple positivity? The love? We’ve had lousy mayors before, yet New York always finds a way forward.

Why Stratis is making headlines

Most Staten Island restaurateurs avoid going public on politics or money. It feels declassé, and customers don’t want to hear it. But Stratis? He put his name on it — and now he’s the talk of the town.

I’ve met Stratis before, about five years ago on Staten Island, an