After the Sylvan Avenue Fire, Lefkes Finds a New Home on Fort Lee's Park Avenue
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
A Greek restaurant that lost its Englewood Cliffs building to fire in June is scheduled to reopen in Fort Lee on Friday, Oct. 9. Lefkes is moving into the former Ventanas space at 200 Park Avenue under a new name, Lefkes at The Modern. Owner Georgia Dumas is partnering with restaurateur Alexander Duran on the new location.
This fall's biggest restaurant change in Fort Lee involves no new building. A known name is filling a known room, and much of the staff that ran that room is staying on. The same pattern is showing up at Hudson Lights, where incoming restaurants are taking over storefronts that already had tenants. Fort Lee's dining news this season comes from turnover in existing spaces.
News 12 New Jersey reported that flames broke out at Lefkes on Sylvan Avenue just before 5 a.m. on June 11, 2026. No injuries were reported. According to the Englewood Cliffs Fire Department, crews arrived at 495 Sylvan Ave. around 4:30 that morning and found heavy smoke. The department said the building's features and the weather made the fire hard to fight. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the Fort Lee Fire Investigation Unit took over the investigation into the cause. Reports differ on how many alarms the fire reached, but every account describes a major fire.
The restaurant posted a message on Instagram within a day, and NorthJersey.com's follow-up quoted it:
"We are currently closed at our Englewood Cliffs location. Our home was damaged, but our spirit is too strong. We're working hard to rebuild and will be back to serving you soon."
A spokesperson, Angela Thomas, said part of the building had been demolished. She added in an emailed statement that "it is too soon to discuss further plans, one step at a time." The Bergen County Girl later described the Englewood Cliffs building as a total loss. Coverage of the reopening has not said what will happen to the Sylvan Avenue property.
Lefkes opened on Sylvan Avenue in 2018, and NorthJersey.com was writing about it as a new restaurant that October. That puts its time in Englewood Cliffs at nearly eight years. The original NorthJersey.com reviewer predicted it would become "a fixture in the North Jersey dining scene."
The Fort Lee opening comes about four months after the fire. A fast timeline like that usually depends on finding a space that already works. Ventanas had soft-opened at 200 Park Avenue by late February 2019, with a grand opening set for that March 14, according to New Jersey Monthly. That gave it more than seven years in the space. The press release announcing the change thanks everyone who "dined, celebrated and made memories at Ventanas." It also says much of the restaurant's team and hospitality will carry forward into Lefkes.
So locals who knew Ventanas will find Lefkes taking over a working restaurant with its staff in place. Here is what stays and what changes, according to the reopening announcements:
| Ventanas at 200 Park Avenue | Lefkes at The Modern | |
|---|---|---|
| Name and concept | Ventanas | Lefkes, modern Greek with signature sushi |
| Team | Ventanas staff | Much of the Ventanas team carries over |
| Space | Two stories with an outdoor patio | Same two stories, redone with white accents, new murals, lighting and furniture |
| Late nights | Event and celebration venue | DJ nights and entertainment in a Mykonos style, plus wine dinners and private events |
The release describes an outdoor patio with a landscaped garden for lunch or dinner outside. Daily Voice reports the same two-story layout with a patio.
The menu is the familiar one. Lefkes says regulars from Sylvan Avenue should expect "the same beloved menu," Greek with a modern twist, along with its sushi selection. Lefkes at The Modern's OpenTable menu was last updated Sept. 29, 2026. It lists Greek dishes next to sushi, including the signature Lefkes roll.
The grand opening is set for Friday, Oct. 9. That is tomorrow, counting from this post's publication date. Announced hours from the restaurant's release:
The restaurant's own website was still under development when the release went out. For now, OpenTable and the phone line are the most direct ways to book.
The address also changes the trip for people who used to drive up to Englewood Cliffs. The Bergen County Girl notes that the Fort Lee location sits minutes from the George Washington Bridge. A Thursday through Saturday kitchen open until 2 a.m. also gives Fort Lee another late-night option close to the bridge.
The Lefkes move follows a pattern across Fort Lee this fall. Restaurants are coming in through existing storefronts, and at Hudson Lights two incoming restaurants are following that same route.
Yui Izakaya is coming to 2060 Hudson Street, in the space that conveyor-belt restaurant Otter Fine Sushi had occupied since early 2025. Boozy Burbs reported "Coming Soon" signage on the storefront in early August. As of the Bergen County Girl's fall 2026 openings roundup, published Sept. 14, the Japanese concept was still listed as coming soon with no opening date.
Dipped N' Smashed is the second. It serves smashburgers, Nashville hot chicken, hot dogs and desserts, and Hudson Lights will be its second location. Its exact address has moved around in the coverage. The August roundup listed 2030 Hudson Street. The September roundup lists 187 Main Street, and so does the restaurant's Toast ordering page, which was not yet taking online orders. In the Sept. 14 roundup, both Yui Izakaya and Dipped N' Smashed were listed as coming soon with no opening date.
Put together, Fort Lee's fall additions look like this. A Greek restaurant displaced from Englewood Cliffs is taking over an established Park Avenue room. A Japanese izakaya is replacing a sushi spot that opened less than two years ago. A burger and chicken concept is adding a second location at Hudson Lights. All three moved into rooms that already existed instead of building new ones.
Everything opening near the bridge this fall comes with a detour. The Port Authority announced that from Aug. 14 through December 2026, the right lanes and the sidewalk on the northbound Center Avenue bridge over the George Washington Bridge approach are closed for rehabilitation. The closure includes the ramp from New Jersey-bound I-95 to Center Avenue and the ramp from Center Avenue to New York-bound I-95. Two travel lanes stay open throughout the work.
The Port Authority advisory lists these changes:
The work is part of the Port Authority's $2 billion Restoring the George program, and the Lemoine Avenue overpass was finished in 2025. When the Center Avenue overpass is done, the agency says it will have upgraded structure, better lighting, and improved roadway and pedestrian features.
Two more dates fill out October in Fort Lee. Down the street at 1 Park Avenue, the Barrymore Film Center holds its 2026 Gala on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 6 to 10 p.m., honoring Mayor Mark Sokolich. A week later, on Saturday, Oct. 24, Be Fort Lee hosts its Fall-O-Ween Spooktacular from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hudson Lights Park, 183 Main Street, with family activities. Fall-O-Ween takes place a short walk from the storefronts Yui Izakaya and Dipped N' Smashed are preparing to open.
At Sara Shin Select, we follow Fort Lee one storefront at a time, from the Park Avenue room changing hands this week to the signs still going up at Hudson Lights. If you want to talk about how changes like these affect daily life on your block, let's connect.
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