MOLDOVA IN QUEENS 38 MARCH 2 0 1 7 FOOD + DRINK By ANGELA MATUA @ANGELAMATUA Brother-and-sister duo Radu and Sorina Panfil have been bringing their version of Moldovan cuisine to Sunnyside since July 2016. There, they serve a mix of traditional comfort food and dishes with Romanian and Russian elements. The siblings’ father owned two restaurants in Moldova, a small country bordered by Romania and Ukraine, and Radu Panfil was inspired to open his own kitchen in America. He came to the United States in 2005 and opened Moldova in Midwood, Brooklyn. His sister Sorina came to the states in 2008, where she worked in finance. But Radu Panfil wanted to expand his restaurant and called on his sister to help open Boon by Moldova in Sunnyside. “I was on my maternity leave and my brother said, ‘Come on, let’s try this’ and I said, ‘Why not? I’m in my 30s, this is the opportunity for me to see if I’m good at it or not good at it, see how much I like to be a business owner, what challenges are there.’” The restaurant, located at 43-45 40th St., used to be a Romanian eatery, and Sorina Panfil said the large Romanian community in the area pushed them to open Boon in Sunnyside. The owners were also encouraged by the young crowd with adventurous taste buds in the area. “Sunnyside is so close to the city and it’s a growing area and it’s an area where you have a lot of young people with a cool mindset, like they wouldn’t be scared to try something new,” she said. Sorina Panfil’s husband was responsible for the design at the spacious restaurant, which features hand-painted designs, a stage for weekend performances and portraits of men, women and children in traditional Moldovan outfits on the bathroom doors. The building also has a back room
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