Cinnabar, New Asian Restaurant, Opens In Massapequa

MASSAPEQUA, NY — A new Asian restaurant is bringing an upgraded menu of Chinese and Japanese favorites. A grand opening was held last week at Cinnabar on Carmans Road.

Owner Cathy Ren, who hails from China, packed up her cuisine and came to Long Island with her family more than 20 years ago. She was reared in Westbury and now calls Queens home.

Ren and her executive team have several other eateries across New York City. Cinnabar is her first venture onto Long Island; it's also the first Chinese fusion restaurant in the portfolio.

"This is always like a good tracing back to the roots," Ren told Patch.

While the name may seem like a play on the popular bakery shop, Ren said it has ties to her homeland.

"Cinnabar is technically a type of rare mineral in China," she said. "It's also the color red."

Ren used that in designing the restaurant with the Cinnabar shade of red on chairs.

While this is her group's seventh restaurant, Ren has the food business in her blood.

"My whole family is in the hospitality industry. I'm been doing this my entire life," she said.

Since she was 13, Ren worked her way through the front of the house with various jobs including busgirl, bartender and cashier. Now she has taken her experience and combined her childhood memories for a unique taste. "I took what I really like about Chinese cuisine from different parts of China and created a menu," Ren said. "My favorite dishes, you'll find on the menu."

There is also a sushi bar, but "not a traditional sushi bar," she said. Overall, patrons will find a streamlined menu "for anyone to come in and enjoy the atmosphere."

For a month, Ren has been undergoing a "soft launch" at Cinnabar, acting as a trial run of sorts to discover which dishes are successful.

"I do put in my opinions," she said about the menu items. "We want to see how the public will react to it and then we'll make some adjustments."