By Jacqueline Leitzes

After taking some time off following the closing of his famed restaurant Ouest in 2015 – and subsequently helming the kitchen at the now-shuttered Le Cirque – award winning chef Tom Valenti, who is credited with bringing haute cuisine to the Upper West Side, is back with a new restaurant: Oxbow Tavern, located at 240 Columbus Avenue between West 71^st and 72^nd Streets, in the space of that previously housed Cafe Tallulah.

Oxbow Tavern is expected to open in the coming weeks, and in the meantime, WSR sat down with the chef to talk about the restaurant and his return to the neighborhood.

For starters, please share with us the origin of the restaurant’s name.

There is a beautiful frieze on the outside on the 71^st Street side of the space – a depiction of two ox pulling what appears to be a wagon full of sugarcane. I chose to adopt it only because you just don’t see this kind of work done anymore – it’s kind of a lost art, and I wanted to preserve that.

You have stated that Oxbow Tavern will be a casual neighborhood spot. Why did you decide to go towards less formal dining and to specifically bring it to the Upper West Side?

I realize that while fine dining is not dead by any stretch – and thank god we’ve got Eric Ripert, Daniel Boulud, and Thomas Keller (those are near and dears) – for me, I wanted to more embrace what I think a neighborhood that is familiar to me is looking for – and is frankly how I like to eat. I think that I have always hung my hat on the fine dining hook, and while I’m not losing that here [see the information about the “dinner parties” below], I also want to be able to offer a nice sandwich. I mean who doesn’t want a nice sandwich?

What should we expect to see on the menu? Any dishes from Ouest or ’Cesca?

The nature of the cooking is going to be the same as Ouest, and there will be some dishes from there (the salmon gravlax and lamb shank will make an appearance) and from ’Cesca too – but the menu style will be more casual. We are going to have a great burger, tarte flambée, steak tartare, and more.

But for a collective fine dining fix, I have a beautiful downstairs private dining room that can hold 30-40 people, and when I am not using it for birthdays, an anniversary, or a graduation party, I’m going to create my own little “dinner parties”.

Please share more about these “dinner parties”.

The dinner party concept came to me after realizing that so many of my customers at Ouest didn’t know each other when they first started going there, but when it closed, they had become friends, lovers, and more.

The idea is to have them two or three times a month (more if the demand is there) and to open them up to whoever wants to come. It will probably take a couple of months to get started, but when I do, I will put the menu selections and dates on the website (oxbowtavern.com). As for the format, everyone will show up at 7:00 pm for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and mingling – and then after about an hour, we will sit down to eat, drink, and have fun!

The weight of running a fine dining restaurant seven nights a week/364 days a year takes a certain level of discipline and passion, and it’s not that I don’t have it, but I feel like the casual thing is more on a day-to-day basis what the Upper West Side is looking for. However that does not mean we can’t get fancy once in a while and do stuff that requires you to sit up straight – and these dinner parties will provide an opportunity to do just that!

And the space itself – what is the look and feel?

It is very much casual, just come as you are. There are 30 seats at the bar; it is a huge bar, which is delightful. You can pop in for a beer and a burger or sit down and have a full-blown meal. People always said Ouest was like Cheers, and I want it to feel like that here too.

You beat me to the Cheers analogy – and to me, Ouest was like that not only for its patrons but also for many of its employees. Will we see any familiar faces returning to work with you?

Yes, you will see some of the same smiling faces that you saw at Ouest.

Being that WSR is focused on the Upper West Side, can you share your thoughts about the neighborhood?

I love the Upper West Side, and I love my neighbors! It has the best shoe store (Harry’s Shoes), the best lox and eggs (Barney Greengrass), the best woman’s clothing store (CPW), John Koch Antiques, Zabars, Fairway, Levain Bakery (I mean where else can you get a cookie the size of your head), and so many great restaurants and stores!

Anything else you would like to share with West Side Rag?

I’m so happy to be back in the hood!