Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up
Photo by mcbrooklyn Amy Ruth’s Not Coming to Brooklyn? “The famed Harlem soul food restaurant, Amy Ruth’s, which signed a lease for the former Gage & Tollner restaurant space at 372-374 Fulton St. on the Fulton Mall in Downtown Brooklyn last October, may not be coming to Brooklyn after all. Robert F. Hebron IV of…
Photo by mcbrooklyn
Amy Ruth’s Not Coming to Brooklyn?
“The famed Harlem soul food restaurant, Amy Ruth’s, which signed a lease for the former Gage & Tollner restaurant space at 372-374 Fulton St. on the Fulton Mall in Downtown Brooklyn last October, may not be coming to Brooklyn after all. Robert F. Hebron IV of Ingram & Hebron Realty, who negotiated the lease on behalf of Amy Ruth’s, confirmed to the Eagle on Monday a rumor that the deal had fallen through… ‘There was a signed lease,’ he said. ‘But as of this morning there is a marshall’s notice on the door that the landlord was reclaiming the space.’ [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
BBQ Joint Opening on Smith Street
An Eater tipster says: “The place across the street from NY Perks and Robin des Bois [on Smith between Warren and Baltic] is slated for a whiskey and BBQ joint. The plywood’s down, and there’s iron clad facade with window openings.”
A New Wine Bar for Carroll Gardens
With a little help from their readership, A Brooklyn Life reports that the old video store at 389 Court (at 1st Place) is slated to become a “wine bar” or a “cafe with wine and cheese.”
After the jump: The new “culinary playground” in Brooklyn Heights, schnitzel in Coney Island, a closing in Kensington, and tomatoes all over town…
Spicy Pickle = “Culinary playground”?
143 Montague Street at Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights; (347) 463-9403
Spicy Pickle has taken over the old Armando’s space in Brooklyn Heights, and co-owner Bob Sheahan told the Brooklyn Paper, It’s your culinary playground. More accurately speaking, it’s a sandwich chain with “paninis, subs, pizzetti (individual, 11-inch Neapolitan thin-crust pizzas), soups and salads with a selection of 12 meats, eight cheeses, 15 spreads and 22 toppings” on its menu. The Brooklyn Paper reports: “Open daily for breakfast (consider the grilled egg sandwich on rosemary focaccia with a gourmet coffee!), lunch and dinner every day, the Spicy Pickle seats up to 55 people and has a homey atmosphere, replete with huge, wall-mounted flat-screen TV.”
Quick bites
The New York Times heads to Coney Island for some schnitzel… The Kensington (Brooklyn) blog mourns the closing of Joe & Joe’s Pizzeria… And Brooklyn Based lists the best tomato dishes across the borough — from the “Stuffed zucchini blossoms dressed with tomato water” at the Farm on Adderly to the Sunday brunch BLT at Applewood.
I don’t know why TGIF failed, and I did not say that they were the perfect restaurant for that site, but that their kind of restaurant – casual American comfort food, was well suited for the area.
Let’s face it, for the kinds of people who feel as A Clinton Hill Lady does, that the casual chain restaurants are horrible, what do you suggest? High faluting dreams of gentrification of Fulton Street aside, any restaurant that hopes to succeed in that space in 2008, needs to capture the lunch crowd from the thousands of people spilling out from the courts and municipal buildings, the law school and Metrotech. Most of these people are not spending more than $10-15 for lunch, and if they are doing it everyday, $10 is closer to the norm.
The interior of G&T is landmarked, and must stay Victorian. That limits a lot of themed and edgy decor, which easily impacts on the kinds of restaurants that would want to be there, no matter what they serve.
A good dinner business may want to be more upscale, but wealthier people in the surrounding area, especially the Heights, did not support the last incarnation of G&T, and valet parking and other perks did not bring enough people in. The hotels were not there at that time, but their presence is not a guarantee of business, especially for tourists who head over for Manhattan.
Good “soul food” is one of the few American cuisines that can bring in crowds. Foreign tourists can’t get enough, black people of all income levels are a given, and most Americans of all persuasions can get behind barbequed meats, mac and cheese and corn bread. (There is so much more to real African American cuisine, but that’s a tale for another post.)If Amy Ruth’s doesn’t come in, perhaps a Sylvia’s or another restaurant can fill the bill. Other than that, I think only culinary fare that can cheaply satisfy at lunch, more than dinner, can survive there.
I don’t understand the animosity towards chains, I have to say. There are so many choices in this city, no one needs to even consider them, if they don’t want to. In underserved areas, like Bed Stuy and its Applebees, they are the only companies with enough money and resouces to take a chance and open their doors. In malls and towns across America, they can be the only choice, and are better than McDonalds. They provide needed jobs. At least you get a real plate and utensils and waitstaff. In all cases, if you don’t like them, don’t eat there. Why deny someone else what they consider a decent meal, or an entry into the world of food service careers, which can mean much more than being a waiter. What’s the harm?
Amy Ruths in Harlem serves a nice tastin’ platter of food but I found them hit or miss.
Certainly hope it doesn’t go the way of a 30 dollar lobster and mayonnaise-sandwich joint. And Pulll- lease no Italian, TexMex or Thai – I’m ‘thai’d’ of Thai.
I hobbled by the Amy Ruth’s spot today and didn’t notice the marshall’s notice, although there were people inside looking like they were doing some kind of work. Maybe there was a reprieve? The signs for Amy Ruth’s were still up…
The posting referred to “schnitzel in Coney Island” – I think it should be clarified that the article that is linked to describes a place on Coney Island AVENUE (in Midwood) not in Coney Island the neighborhood.
I am so sick of resturants like TGIF, Applebees, Chile’s etc. Hopefully someone can come up with something better then all theses places and Amy Ruth’s for the location.
The wine bar is not on Smith, it’s on Court, and given how dead that block at night, it’s a welcome addition in my book.
Another wine bar for Smith Street? I think Sample and the Jake Walk are plenty, especially once you consider that Black Mountain is just over on Hoyt, Donna Da Vine on Atlantic and the Clover Club (not a wine bar, but still). Enough already.
Now the bbq place, that is a damn fine idea.
Montrose, if TGIF was the ideal restaurant for that spot, why did it fail?
Unfortunately, an Ethiopian restaurant would last about 2 months in that location before having to close its doors. Whatever goes into the Gage and Tollner space needs to be extremely popular to a wide segment of restaurant goers. I don’t think a high end foodie place will ever work there, no matter how many hotels or rich folks are in the area. The volume just isn’t there.
As much as people here poo-poo popular food choices, the only kind of restaurant that will succeed there, especially since they would need to really clean up at lunch, the most populated time of day in the area, would have to be American comfort food, with an average lunch meal costing no more than $12, excluding alchohol. TGIF, like it or not, was the ideal kind of food for the location.