Celebrity Chef Planning to Open Restaurant in Forest Hills View Full Caption

QUEENS — A celebrity chef from the Food Network show "Chopped," is planning to move his restaurant from Glendale to Forest Hills.

Jason Zukas said he is still waiting for a liquor license, but if everything works out, the restaurant serving Italian-American cuisine — Tazzina — will move to Metropolitan Avenue by the end of the year.

The restaurant's current location, at 88th Street and 75 Avenue, is too small, Zukas said. In Forest Hills, he noted, “I’ll be able to do more stuff,” although he said he was not ready to reveal the exact location.

Tony Kang, also known from "Chopped," will work at the new restaurant as a sous-chef, Zukas said.

Zukas said he is planning to expand the number of dishes and add a tapas menu.

The area already features a number of Italian restaurants, including La Vigna, Alberto, La Bella Russo and Bocca Fina.

But Zukas said he is planning to win customers by offering an “old school Italian restaurant but upscale and with a few different twists.”

“We are making it fun again,” he said.

Zukas, who was raised in Queens, had worked at Ouest, La Bottega, Blue Water Grill and Charles, before opening his own restaurant in 2011.