KEENE, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) Downtown Keene has a new dining destination, as Slate & Sage Modern Bistro welcomed its first customers this past weekend at 11 Central Square.

Owned by Beth and Matt Wood, the restaurant occupies the city-owned storefront formerly home to Nicola’s. ‘

“The wait is over,” Beth Wood wrote in a Facebook post.

Slate & Sage brings a mix of familiar comfort food and contemporary bistro fare to the downtown dining scene. The menu is approachable, with a menu that includes appetizers, salads, sandwiches, flatbreads and pasta dishes.

Among the starters are rosemary potato wedges served with sweet chili and sour cream, zucchini pancakes with garlic dill tzatziki, burrata with prosciutto and tomatoes, and Chesapeake wings tossed in an Old Bay dry rub.

The flatbread selection includes a Fig & Pig topped with goat cheese, fig jam, pancetta and prosciutto, as well as a Barnyard flatbread featuring grilled chicken, bacon, an over-easy egg and spicy marinara.

For sandwiches, diners can choose from options such as a short rib French dip with caramelized onion and Gruyère, a gyro with house-made tzatziki, or the Slate Burger, featuring flame-grilled beef, pancetta, garlic cheese curds and gorgonzola dressing.

The main course menu includes harvest bucatini with roasted Brussels sprouts and caramelized onions, slow-roasted short ribs, flame-grilled salmon and blackened shrimp marinara served over pappardelle. A pesto chicken pappardelle rounds out the pasta offerings.

The opening marks another addition to the Woods’ restaurant ventures in Keene. They also own 21 Bar and Grill on Roxbury Street, which has been closed since a basement fire damaged the property in June. The couple hopes to reopen a portion of that restaurant by January.

The couple additionally owns Birdies at 11 Main St.

Nicola’s was an Italian restaurant operated by Cheryl and Nicola Bencivenga of Walpole. The Bencivengas closed the restaurant Sept. 30, roughly six months after re-opening.

The Bencivengas were longtime participants in Keene’s restaurant industry, having previously operated Nicola’s Trattoria, which closed in 2018 after more than 20 years.

Slate & Sage can be reached at (603) 358-0016; reservations can be made using the Toast app.