Foodies as the New Gentrifiers
The Brooklyn Paper has an article this morning about the gentrifying effect of upscale food establishments. The artists might get to a new neighborhood first, say the article, but in recent years, a new cafe or thin crust pizza restaurant is the sure sign that a neighborhood has hit its tipping point. “Food is the…
The Brooklyn Paper has an article this morning about the gentrifying effect of upscale food establishments. The artists might get to a new neighborhood first, say the article, but in recent years, a new cafe or thin crust pizza restaurant is the sure sign that a neighborhood has hit its tipping point. “Food is the new art in the urban cultural experience,” said Sharon Zukin, author of Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Culture. “You used to have artists moving in and opening galleries, now there are foodies moving in and opening up cafes.” The examples are legion: K-Dog in Prospect Lefferts Garden, The Farm on Adderly in Ditmas Park, Northeast Kingdom followed by Roberta’s in Bushwick, Saraghina in Bed Stuy. Even Kensington made it only the foodie map recently with the opening of Brancaccio’s Food Shop. Of course, not all pioneering restaurateurs are met with success: Abigail’s proved too pricey for Crown Heights and Bread Stuy’s recents problems have been well publicized. Another other good examples you can think of? Surely the L Cafe in North Williamsburg and Diner in South Williamsburg deserved mention. Others?
Foodies Now Leading the Gentrification of Brooklyn [Brooklyn Paper]
quote:
Rob – you know as much about the Ghetto as a tourist on the top of the Empire State Building knows about skyscraper construction.
:-/ well i was born in jersey city in the 70s. why are you revoking my ghetto pass?
*rob*
Rob – you know as much about the Ghetto as a tourist on the top of the Empire State Building knows about skyscraper construction.
I think they have it backwards, the market has to be there before the restaurants arrive.
Abigail’s in Crown Heights failed for a number of reasons, chief among them being their inability to get a hard liquor license. Their food was good, but the prices were very high, not just for CH, but for anywhere, as the portions were small, very small. Their service was spotty, too, they never seemed to get a consistant staff of waiters who were on it. Sometimes you got a good one, sometimes you felt like you were in Siberia in a snowstorm. It’s really too bad, physically, it is a great space, and a needed amenity. I think it was located in a prime spot to succeed, but it wasn’t the market that did it in.
Unfortunately, although understandibly, it takes an intrepid businessperson to go into an underserved neighborhood and open up a restaurant or food business. Everyone is sitting on the sidelines waiting for someone else to go first, so no one does anything. If I could partner with all of the people I’ve met who want to open a diner/cafe in Crown Heights North, we’d coin money. The need is there, the deep pockets aren’t.
slopefarm, your point about the internet is certainly a valid one no doubt.
I wonder if the internet is actually the primary mover of gentrification these days.
I remember when Santa Fe Grill opened in the Slope and we all took it as a sign of the coming yuppie apocalypse, not so much for its stellar cuisine but for its trendiness at the time — tex-mex, active bar, nice wood exterior. Now the place is kind of at the low end. But I think this post is about something else — a restaurant as a dining destination for those outside as well as within the nabe. I think it does signal, and it does draw people in to look at the area they haven’t ventured into before, although we ventured into Bushwick for the mini golf, not Northeast Kingdon. The restaurant was a bonus. Same with victorian Flatbush — Cortelyou Road scene developed long after teh area took off in terms of RE. The backlash is that the restaurants seem like a real acceleration of the gentrification process, which is more disruptive the faster it goes. Going from bodega to pricey restaurant is like flooring it on gentrification. Even Williamsburg went through an extensive sub rosa loft period before PlanEat Thailand and Oznot’s opened. Those supported a local scene before word got out. But I also think the internet speeds up word of mouth on these things.
Nice neighborhood sit down spots are “anybody” amenities. As long as the atmosphere is welcoming, the food and service decent and the prices midrange all kinds of folks will come. I used to love Dekalb ave and Fulton in Fort Greene. Even back in the 90’s there were little spots you could go to with your friends for a quick bite. I walked along Fulton yesterday in Bed Stuy (Tompkins and Throop) and counted more than 15 hair and nail salons in a one block radius. Not one space to sit and think.
I thought the definition of a “foodie” was someone that hip enough to throw away their whole salary on eating at resturants because they are to dumb or lazy to cook? Now that the economy is in a downturn we will just see how many of these “foodies” hold their “General” social scale with their “Private” rank pay.
with all said tho, of course any kind of food establishment (or any other kind of business) are obviously good for any neighborhood, i just think people tend to harp on certain kinds of business too much.
*rob*
“see, that’s the definition of an elitist snobbiness from the ghetto.”
I spent Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn Heights, so I was able to add a lot of new elitist snobbiness to my repertoire.