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Open and Shut
Dumbo
Reported by Dumbo NYC, the Brooklyn Roasting Company is tripling its size. Dumbo NYC, who thinks this is the best coffee and espresso in the nabe, says: “They’ve taken over the space next door at 25 Jay Street and working on adding more production equipment as well as more craftsman furniture.” Across the street, a healthy Mediterranean restaurant called Punto Bianco opened at 20 Jay.
Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill
Patch writes that a tutoring service has taken half the space once occupied by Sweet Melissa, at 276 Court Street. Pardon Me For Asking talks to the new owner of Court Street Pet Food and reports that Community Board Six denied a sidewalk cafe for Buschenschank, the beer pub at 320 Court Street. Finally, Realty Collective writes that the closing date for Quercy, who has been at 242 Court Street for nine years, is on Saturday, April 28th. We previously reported that an Ethiopian joint is moving in. Finally, you know it’s spring when Gowanus Yact Club opens its doors and gets the ball rolling for outdoor drinking.
Park Slope
Park Slope favorite Zito’s Sandwich Shop is eyeing a space on the Coney Island Boardwalk, reports Amusing the Zillion. Here’s Park Slope tells readers that the Park Slope Academy of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will open at 518 Fifth Avenue on Saturday with a “blowout celebration.” Z-7 Classic Diner opened on Flatbush, Triangle Sporting Goods is selling off what’s left before it closes, and L Train Vintage is coming to the old Blockbuster space on 5th Avenue.
Williamsburg/Bushwick
Racked writes that Burg Boutique Love Brigade is taking a sabbatical and “allowing the Universe to pull the brand to its destiny.” A new boutique called Eco Closet is moving in. Grub Street has details on Well and the Wick, a huge beer garden/concert space planned for an old Bushwick brewery. No word on when it’s actually opening!
04/25/2012 11:30 AM
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The Back Grill Gets Signage on Vanderbilt
Signage popped up at 635 Vanderbilt Avenue, the space formerly occupied by Eton in Prospect Heights that closed last October. Apparently this new joint will be called “The Back Grill,” although we don’t have any more details for you. If you’ve heard any information, feel free to leave it in the comments! GMAP
04/24/2012 2:00 PM
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CB6 OKs Barclays Booze License, Denies Kemistry Lounge
We didn’t cover the Community Board 6 liquor license meeting yesterday in the flesh, but other outlets are reporting that the board’s committee on such matters approved the license for Barclays Center and then gave a thumbs-down to Kemistry Lounge, a nearby bar. With reference to the Barclays application, Atlantic Yards Report notes that “the applicant, Levy Premium Foodservice and Brooklyn Events Center, must set up a community liaison and also make sure the arena moves ahead with security, sanitation, transportation plans, there’s essentially no roadblock–not that it was assumed that the State Liquor Authority (SLA) would deny the application.” The application had previously been approved by Community Board 2, and no public comments were taken on the matter. Meanwhile, the hot-button issue of the night was Kemistry Lounge’s second appearance before the board requesting approval for a license that would involve constructing a proposed nightclub on Flatbush and Prospect Place. Park Slope Patch reports that the committee unanimously voted to deny the application, with two abstentions. Here is what Patch has to say about it: “Kemistry Lounge at 260 Flatbush Avenue, which is not open and still under construction, is located between Prospect Place and St Marks Avenue and plans to be a 225-person upscale lounge with bottle service at tables, a private party room with a dance floor in the basement and live music and DJs. But the aspect that disturbed the residents of Prospect Place the most was the fact that the establishment runs from Flatbush Avenue to Prospect Place and has three large plate glass windows and an exit on to the residential street. The vote on whether to recommend that the State Liquor Authority grants Kemistry Lounge a liquor license or not came at the end of a heated public comment period where about 50 Prospect Place residents, unified under the moniker Prospect Place Neighbors, voiced their belief that their residential street is not the right location for a ‘nightclub.’” Patch reports that one resident voiced objections on the grounds that it would be the biggest nightclub in central Brooklyn (capacity: 225) and only the second with bottle service. Evidently the community board committee made a motion to approve the application if the owner was willing to close down at midnight on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends, but one of its co-owners said that would make the business unsustainable. It’s possible, of course, that the State Liquor Authority will still approve the club’s request despite the community board’s vote. Atlantic Yards Report has more quotes and video on the Kemistry discussion in a separate post.
Community Board 6 Committee Supports Arena Liquor License with Stipulations [AY Report]
Community Board 6 Rejects Kemistry Lounge’s Liquor License Application [Park Slope Patch]
Community Board 6 Committee Disapproves Kemistry Lounge Liquor License Application [AY Report]
Rendering of one of the Barclays Center’s clubs
04/24/2012 9:31 AM
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Kemistry’s Liquor License Back Up for Discussion
Kemistry Lounge, the business applying for a liquor license at 260 Flatbush Avenue against the wishes of nearby neighbors, is back on Community Board Six’s Liquor License agenda tonight. The Prospect Place Neighbors Group is urging CB6 to reject the liquor license, you can see the letter addressing concerns here. A big concern, as iterated at last month’s meeting, is the building’s exit onto Prospect Place. Community residents already met with Kemistry and the Flatbush Avenue BID and reached an agreement on 11 stipulations, including monitoring of the premises, deliveries and trash pickup on Flatbush Avenue, soundproofing, and meeting with the community if any problems arise. Residents are still concerned about the possibility that the exit on Prospect will not be “bricked up,” as previously promised, that bottle service will be used, and that the business has not agreed to closing at 2am on weekends. While it was unclear at the last meeting how the plans for seven extra stories on the building would fit into the business plan, it looks like Kemistry will occupy two floors and have a capacity of 225 people. Prospect Park Neighbors say they’re coming to the meeting with a petition signed by 100 people against the business, so it should be an interesting night, to say the least. If you’re interested, it’s at 6:30pm at Prospect Park YMCA, 357 9th Street, 7th floor.
Slope Residents Worry About Another Arena-Area Club [Brownstoner]
Seven More Stories for 260 Flatbush Avenue [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
04/23/2012 2:40 PM
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First Shot Fired in War Over Al Fresco Burg Brunches
Last week the Brooklyn Paper reported that some members of Community Board 1, which oversees Williamsburg and Greenpoint, were going to try to get the city to enforce a law that prohibits outdoor seating at eateries before noon on Sunday, in part because the seating can block sidewalk space used by church-goers. Today, the New York Post reports that Lokal Mediterranean Bistro, on Lorimer, was given a citation yesterday for having outdoor seating before noon: “‘They are killing business and killing people’s jobs,’ griped Gino Kutluca, owner of Lokal Mediterranean Bistro at Lorimer and Nassau streets, which received the summons. Kutluca’s business had specifically been criticized by local community-board members for serving tables on the sidewalk — thus making it hard for people to walk past them to get to church — early in the day. The eatery owner will now have to show up in court June 11 to find out what the fine is.” The article doesn’t detail exactly when Lokal’s outdoor tables had been set out, so we don’t have a full picture of what the Post’s headline refers to as the “brunch punch to eatery.”
Brunch Punch to Eatery [NY Post]
Photo by RSFlckD4
04/23/2012 10:30 AM
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New Bar Open on Franklin Avenue
A bar named 739 Franklin opened exactly two weeks ago on Franklin Avenue, near the corner of Sterling Place. I Love Franklin Avenue has already covered it extensively. When we checked it out yesterday, we learned that it is a neighborhood bar owned by nearby residents who are looking to evolve depending on what their clientele would like to see offered. There are four beers on tap, but specialty cocktails are the main order of the day; there are happy hour specials ($4 pints) and food will eventually be served. There are a couple more photos of the space on the jump. It has a large back room with a projection screen, and events such as movie nights will be a regular feature.
739 Franklin [Official Site] GMAP (more…)
04/20/2012 2:00 PM
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Arena-Branded Bar on Stuy/Crown Hts Border is Built Out
Last week we walked by the lounge near the corner of Classon and Atlantic called My Arena that, based on its name, is looking to get some traffic from the Barclays-going crowd despite being more than a mile from the arena, and the space is looking just about ready to roll. A person associated with the biz says they’re hoping to open within a month and that there will definitely be food on offer in addition to it being a bar. Aside from that, not much info yet on their website.
Arena Branding Comes to Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy Border [Brownstoner] My Arena Lounge [Official Site] GMAP
04/19/2012 12:00 PM
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Open and Shut
Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill
Lost City snaps this photograph of Ciro’s (above), the replacement for the Fall Cafe. As he says: “New layout inside, though it looks like they’ve kept some of the old chairs that gave the Fall Cafe its ratty charm. And there might be the possibility of garden seating in back.” A new Thai restaurant replaces an old Thai restaurant at 160 Smith Street. Sadie’s Kitchen closed on Degraw Street for spring remodeling. A bad sign? wonders one PMFA reader. And sadly, over on the Columbia Street Waterfront, Accardi Hardware, the oldest biz on the block, shuttered.
Park Slope
FIPS throws out a rumor that Starbucks is planned for the old Uncle Moe’s space on 7th Avenue. They also report that Talde is now serving brunch. Here’s Park Slope spots a new Indian restaurant coming to 396 5th Avenue and notes that Hungry Ghost Cafe opened its doors on Flatbush. An English Pub called Monro’s got signage at 481 5th Avenue.
Elsewhere
Brooklyn Pie Corps is looking to open a retail space sometime this year. A French Bistro is opening on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn Heights. A rundown building/deli on the corner of Parkside and Flatbush is being renovated in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Grubstreet notes that Greenpoint fave Anella’s has started serving lunch. Last but not least, on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, a bike shop and a new restaurant will soon be the latest additions to the very busy block.
04/18/2012 12:00 PM
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Boutique Hotel To Rise Across from W’burg Whole Foods
Today the Journal has an article based on sources that are saying a firm called Waterbridge Capital, which is headed by a developer named Joel Schreiber, has purchased and is in contract to purchase a large assemblage of properties in Williamsburg. The juicy news is that Schreiber intends to build a 245-room boutique hotel right across the street from the site that’s slated to get a Whole Foods on North 4th Street off Bedford Avenue. Here are the details:
The properties include a former bagel shop, a laundromat, a supermarket and a hookah bar. Waterbridge paid about $68 million for the properties and plans to renovate, in the hope of attracting more prominent retail tenants, including a bank. Waterbridge has also signed a contract to acquire most of the eastern portion of the block between Bedford and North Fourth and Driggs and Metropolitan avenues, which is home to moving-and-storage company Sher-Del Transfer, from the company’s owners. The developer plans to build a 245-room boutique hotel on the Sher-Del site and an adjacent vacant lot, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Williamsburg, you’ve heard this before many times, but you’ve come a long way, baby. [Insert comment about lack of Apple store here.]
Block Redo Melds in Williamsburg [WSJ] GMAP
Williamsburg is Getting a Whole Foods! [Brownstoner]
Graphic courtesy of the Wall Street Journal
04/18/2012 10:46 AM
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Alice’s Arbor Cafe/Grocery Opens This Thursday
This Thursday Alice’s Arbor will open the cafe portion of the restaurant on the corner of Classon Avenue and Fulton Street. The full restaurant is slated to open late this month. As for the cafe, there will be sandwiches, salads, organic ice cream, and other bites. Alongside the cafe will be a specialty market with organic packaged goods. The cafe/grocers will be open mornings and afternoon and probably close down early evening, right before dinner service. The dinner menu (which is sit down service, the cafe is not) will focus on “authentic, seasonal, full-flavored American dishes.” You can see a picture of the cafe space after the jump…
Alice’s Arbor To Open Next Month [Brownstoner]
Locavore Restaurant Opening on Classon and Fulton [Brownstoner] GMAP (more…)
04/17/2012 2:15 PM
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New York Magazine on Brooklyn’s Artisanal Boom
In a move rife with propitious timing (Brooklyn’s first mayonnaise store recently opened in Prospect Heights), New York magazine published a cover story investigating whether or not artisanal Brooklyn is a sign of the Apocalypse. In the article’s words, it’s “a world, or at least a borough, where thousands of salvaged-teak schooners ply the oceans, or at least the Gowanus Canal, bearing Mason jars full of marmalade made from windfall kumquats. It’s like a child’s dream. The supermarket aisles are lit by Edison bulbs, staffed by scruffy men in butcher’s aprons, and stocked with cruelty-free dog food and hand-pulped toilet paper.” The article features several familiar brands – and Flea favorites – that either found success or challenges. (McClure’s Pickles brought in over a million bucks last year; jam company Maiden Preserves, popular in the local market, failed to gain enough traction or profits to expand.) The piece also sets the stage for how the artisanal boom emerged from a bad economy, and the tension between the “small-is-good ideology and the growth imperative,” forcing many Brooklyn entrepreneurs to compromise their “locavore mission” in order to make it big.
The Twee Party [NY Magazine]
Illustration by Zohar Lazar via NY Mag
04/17/2012 10:00 AM
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Slope’s Finer Diner, Dizzy’s, Now Open on 5th Ave
A reader sent in the visual evidence above showing Dizzy’s, the Park Slope diner that has been on 9th Street for more than a decade, has opened its second location in the neighborhood, at the corner of 5th Avenue and President. This particular location is known as “cursed” for restaurants, with several having come and gone over the past five or six years, but we’re hoping that Dizzy’s breaks the streak!
A Finer Diner for Cursed Slope Corner [Brownstoner]
The Slope’s Most Cursed Corner? [Brownstoner] GMAP
04/16/2012 2:42 PM
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Pok Pok NY Opens on Columbia Street This Week
Today is the highly-anticipated opening of Pok Pok NY on the Columbia Street Waterfront, Chef Andy Ricker’s first sit-down restaurant in NYC. UPDATE: It looks like the Thai joint is opening this Wednesday. The Thai restaurant is an offshoot of the extremely popular spot in Portland. Eater published photos of the interior late last week. And the New York Times had this to say: “The menu is divided into categories: specialties like game hen done sweet-and-sour and stuffed with lemon grass; dishes to share, including some from Issan, in northeastern Thailand, like spicy minced catfish salad; and copious one-dish meals involving noodles, including the Vietnamese cha ca la vong. Mr. Ricker will postpone lunch at first and might even do it from a truck.” The friends and family meal was last Friday. Any lucky readers get to try it out?
Prepping for Portland Fave Pok Pok [Brownstoner]
Portland Thai Favorite Coming to Columbia Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
04/16/2012 10:00 AM
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Open and Shut
Prospect Heights
In Prospect Heights, neighborhood favorite James started offering lunch Tuesdays through Fridays last week. The menu is very vegetarian-friendly. Inset, above, a baked herbed polenta with cheddar, duck eggs and melted cherry tomato that’s on offer.
Carroll Gardens
Pardon Me for Asking wonders if the owner of Green Onion Children’s Store walked away from the business, leaving it fully stocked. Middle Eastern eatery Levant is opening in Palmyra’s place at 316 Court Street, hopefully by the end of this month. And Kosher eatery Olga’s on 5th will be replaced by HBH, which sells smoked meats and gourmet sandwiches.
Park Slope
What’s up with Lucky Lou’s Cafe and Grill, wondering FIPS. Pinkberry will open this summer at 161 Seventh Avenue, near Garfield Place. A medical center is moving into the old Jennifer Convertible’s space on 5th Avenue, Mezcal’s (also on 5th) reopened after a brief closure, and Chinese restaurant Red Hot II reopened after being shuttered by the DOH.
Elsewhere
Prospect Restaurant will open at 773 Fulton Street in Fort Greene in July and serve local, fresh ingredients. The Gallery restaurant in Dumbo, at the cursed space on Jay Street, is closed temporarily. Steve’s New Grill House made a comeback on the Coney Island Boardwalk, the biz was one of the “Coney Island Eight” evicted by Zamperla. Popup shop Hayseed’s Big City Farm Supply is now in Greenpoint and sells urban farming supplies. Finally, Rough Trade NYC will open a record store (with a live performance area) in Williamsburg.
04/11/2012 11:30 AM
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Bergen Bagels is Coming to Fulton and Washington!
The proof is in the poster: Bergen Bagels, considered by some to be the best bagels available in Brooklyn, put up an an announcement on a storefront on Fulton and Washington that it is “Coming Soon.” The tipster who sent us this photo and watched them put up the sign today notes that it’s in the “combined space that used to be King’s Pizza and Senegalese Fashion Center.” What a great amenity for a stretch of Fulton that could use a bit more love. GMAP
04/09/2012 2:15 PM
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Closing Bell: And Now, Word of a Central Brooklyn CSA
The third season of the Central Brooklyn Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) will begin Thursday, June 14th, and continue every Thursday through November 8th. The official word: “‘Our CSA’s mission is to ‘make fresh, healthy produce, direct from the farmer available and accessible to any Central Brooklyn resident, regardless of economic status,’ said Joel Berg, the Coalition’s executive director. In addition to fresh, organic, affordable vegetables, the Central Brooklyn CSA will once again be offering an optional fruit share to its members. Each member receives a ‘share of vegetables:a full share will feed 3-4 people and a half-share will feed 1-2 people depending on your typical diet. We only have a limited amount of shares available for everyone, so don’t wait to purchase your share. To ensure that our shares are affordable for everyone, we offer flexible payment options for low-income households, and SNAP (formerly known as ‘Food Stamps’) benefits are also accepted to purchase vegetable and fruit shares….This year the Central Brooklyn CSA will be partnering with Windflower Farm, a small organic farm in Valley Falls, located in the Taconic hills between the Hudson River and the Vermont border.” The shares will be available for pick-up at Hebron Seventh Day Adventist Church, at 1256 Dean Street at the corner of New York Avenue, and members will be able to pick up their shares from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday evenings. The deadline to purchase shares is May 4th. Contact details: CentralBrooklynCSA@gmail.com; or call 212-825-0028 for a membership application; or go to the website for an application.
Central Brooklyn CSA [Official Site]
04/05/2012 4:00 PM
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Indian Restaurant Now Open in East Bed Stuy
A reader sent along the above picture and this tip: “We have a great new opening on our side of town. Delhi Heights is brought to us by the same owners of Bombay Heights on Bedford Ave. Stuyvesant East sure is picking up.” The new Indian restaurant opened late last month at 577 Decatur Street, on the corner of Howard Avenue. Here’s the menu. Anybody tried it out yet? GMAP
04/05/2012 2:00 PM
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Closing Bell: Sign-Ups Available for Slope/Gowanus CSA
The deadline is fast approaching to sign up for a CSA in Park Slope/Gowanus that delivers organic produce, eggs, meat and cheese from Farmer Phil at Barefoot Organics Farm in Pennsylvania. The pick-up location is the first floor of Triomph Gym, at 540 President Street (between 3rd and 4th avenues), on the first floor on Tuesday evenings. Shares range from $670-$820, and the sign-up deadline is April 30th and can be done via this website. Pick-ups will start in early June.
Brooklyn CSA Membership [Official Site]
Photo via Bare Foot Organics
04/04/2012 4:00 PM
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adam_dahill
May 21, 2012 | 02:16 PM