NOSH NABES
Three New York City ’hoods where new restaurants are beating the odds and thriving
R EPORTS over the last year claimed the city’s restaurant industry — a scene facing closings due, in part, to rising rents and a higher minimum wage — has grown as stale as yesterday’s table bread. But now, restaurateurs are delivering new eateries across town. Here are three Big Apple neighborhoods that are feeling the heat.
PROSPECT HEIGHTS
For Chris Maestro, the anticipated Dec. 1 debut of Bier Wax — the roughly 900-square-foot Prospect Heights craft beer bar at 556 Vanderbilt Ave. that he owns, featuring his extensive vinyl record collection and a backyard — is more than just a passion project.
“It’s always great to be part of a critical mass of great bars and restaurants,” he says of Vanderbilt Avenue.
He stands to do well. Over the last year and change, Prospect Heights’ eight-block share of Vanderbilt Avenue has seen several notable restaurant openings, continuing its growth as a solid dining destination. When chef Greg Baxtrom opened his 50-seat
Olmsted at 659 Vanderbilt in May 2016, for instance, it joined a cadre of eater- ies, including the Korean-inspired White Tiger.
Restaurateurs and commercial brokers partially attribute the continual openings to the Pacific Park megadevelopment, which abuts Vanderbilt between Dean Street and Atlantic Avenue. This 22-acre site will include 336,000 square feet of offices and 6 million square feet of housing — meaning lots of newcomers with appetites. One particularly proximate building in the residential portion is 550 Vanderbilt, a 278-unit condo where moveins began this spring.
“There’s potential for growth … with the number of people coming in,” says Michael Wetherbee, a partner in the 39-seat, 750-squarefoot Mexican restaurant Alta Calidad, which opened at 552 Vanderbilt in March.
As always, rents also play a role. “The initial component to it was that Vanderbilt was a cheaper alternative to what they’re asking on Flatbush [Avenue],” says Stephen Palmese, vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield.
At Faun — the 950-squarefoot Italian restaurant at 606 Vanderbilt that opened in 2016 — monthly rent costs $6,500. A comparable space on Flatbush asks $8,200 monthly, according to New York City online real estate marketplace Agorafy.
But for David Stockwell, a Faun co-owner, Vanderbilt means more than just better prices. He benefits from nice foot traffic. “I liked the potential I saw,” he says.
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS
Morningside Heights, the uptown neighborhood home to Columbia University, has become a hot spot for fast-casual eateries. With the school’s total enrollment over 30,000 students, these operators are betting that hungry pupils want lowercost meals they can devour between classes. One of them is Panda Express. The Californiabased Chinese chain is set to open a new location — a 1,500-square-foot eatery with seats for 38 — at 2852 Broadway later this fall.
“When selecting new locations, [we] look for neighborhoods that have a strong population base as well as a regional retail draw,” says Hector Coronel, Panda Restaurant Group’s director of restaurant development affairs. “The student population of Columbia University was a strong driver in selecting this location.”
This opening comess on the heels of the June debut of Junzi Kitchen — a 32-seat northern Chinese fast- casual eatery at 2896 Broadway. While Columbia was “lowhanging fruit” for business in the very early days, says coowner Yong Zhao, Junzi’s team saw additional opportunities. First, says marketing director Reed Immer, there was a “lack of Chinese restaurants in the neighborhood.” There’s also a population of locals — of all ages.
“Morningside Heights is a dynamic neighborhood with a cross-section of life full of families and students — we’ve always wanted to be part of that,” says Andrew McCaughan, VP of development at Shake Shack, which opened a 46-seat location at 2957 Broadway in August for simil similar reasons. “People are lo looking for a convenient, high-quality meal — both in the food and design,” he adds.
Indeed, the area has witnessed the debut of several nice-looking outposts over the last several years. Beginning with Dig Inn in 2014, then Sweetgreen in 2015 — eateries skew upscale while delivering goods quickly.
“It’s taking a note from fine dining — and we’re going to have ‘fine casual’ now,” says Faith Hope Consolo, Douglas Elliman’s retail expert.
DUMBO
Last Thursday, the 2,000-square-foot Celestine — a Mediterraneaninspired eatery — opened at 1 John St., a luxury condominium in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood.
It’s not the typical opening for the area — which was long equated with the River Café and Grimaldi’s pizzeria. But in recent months, the it's seen a surge of restaurants that offer more than a dose of cool. In September, Sugarcane, with 9,000 square feet on the interior and another 2,000 outside, opened at Empire Stores — a mixeduse redevelopment of a former warehouse on the river. A month earlier, Ramen Bar — opened by the owners of Dumbo’s Love & Dough pizzeria — debuted at 140 Plymouth St. Experts say this flurry of Dumbo food openings, in part, goes hand-inhand with the influx of neighborhood real-estate developments — like 1 John St., Empire Stores and even the February-opened 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge. People live, work and vacation there, which means crowds at all hours.
“To the credit of those developers of those projects, they all realized they needed to provide a curated food-and-beverage component if [they] want [their] projects to be successful,” Palmese says.
Watch Empire Stores for more foodie action. In addition to retail space, it also includes offices. The 10,000-square-foot Italian spot Cecconi’s, which arrived in June. There’s also the 1,800-square-foot VHH Foods, an indoor/outdoor space inspired in part by San Francisco’s Tartine Manufactory, that opened in June.
In addition to Dumbo’s growing residential and commercial populations, Jack Cayre, principal at Midtown Equities — Empire Stores’ lead developer — also attributes the impetus to foot traffic from Brooklyn Bridge Park.
On any Saturday, he adds, some 8,000 visitors will head to Empire Stores’ rooftop after enjoying the 85-acre green space.
“That really is one of the biggest driving forces of what’s spurred so much interest,” Cayre says.