Apparently, Josie’s restaurant on Waverly and Greene will be called Speakeasy. The front’s been painted, the interior looks gorgeous and they look to be almost ready to go. Reader Sean stopped in when he saw some action inside a few days ago:
I just wanted to pass this along for CHB. I was walking by Speakeasy tonight and noticed that they had tables set up, candles going, and people were sitting at the bar. So I poked my head in and talked to someone inside. I was informed that they are just doing Friends & Family for now but plan to be open to people in the neighborhood on the 15th, sort of a trial run, and then fully open on the 22nd. I saw Josie in the kitchen and the place was all decorated and setup and, I must say, looking inviting. I’m very excited to see what they’ll have on offer.
I took these snaps last night:
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37 Comments
i dunno lesterhead. the currents look like cheap, hideous things they bought from target and what’s with the window on greene with the iron and buttons and shit strewn about? perhaps it’s changed in the last week or so, but when i saw it, i was not impressed at all with the decor. (i did like the tables, chairs and the register)
currents = curtains, by the way.
Where is it?
we can’t tell you silly, it’s a speakeasy.
Waverly and Greene
Yeah, I gotta say, the interior looks cheesy. And the stuff in the window reminds me of a weird girly vintage shop, not a restaurant.
i agree, I walked by the other day and the interior looks a bit blah, a melange of home depot meets restaurant supply co. Josie should have looked to some of us fun interior kids that happily call CH home for some help!
So you think if the food is good and the decorations aren’t pretty, then it’s a major problem? It’s a restaurant. You go there to eat and drink. If you’re that picky about decorations you should order takeout in your own tacky-ass apartment.
As long as the food is good and the place is clean, glad to have another option in the neighborhood.Drove down Myrtle on way home just now. That new wine bar on Myrtle past Carlton is really nice. Also looks like 2 businesses developing on the block of Myrtle between Washington and Hall. Aside from the corner which Kum Kau has, there is a storefront being worked on next to the Polish Bar and further down towards Hall St next to the 99 cents store. Anyone know what is in the work for these spots?
Anyone know what’s being developed on Fulton between Downing and Grand at 1006 Fulton? So much going on. I just love it.Oops, any truth to the rumor that Mikes Diner is closing and Starbucks is opening up in its place on Dekalb and Hall?
Josie said she is going to serve “comfort food” so I guess the decor is suitable.
Yeah, I agree, the decor looks a bit notsogood. The whole ‘grandma’s attic / ye olde curio shoppe’ vibe isn’t going to keep me away, but if there were more competition/options it might.
Dining out is, for many, a social event and about more than just the food. I’m sure that Matt D doesn’t willingly go to places he thinks are uncomfortable or uninviting. To suggest that a restaurant’s only obligation is to provide food and drink is at best disingenuous and at worst downright ignorant.
i think the decore inside looks a little… cheesy.
not really a very “neighborhood hangout” type of vibe, unfortunately. i live on the block and was hopeing for a more laid back, casual cafe type place, kind of similar to choice market or something.
just hope that the food is good and reasonably priced!
BTW, Josie doesn’t own the place, she was hired to help/consult create the menu and get the kitchen going.
I guess it would be too much to wait till the place opens before we get all negative? What a bunch of whiners!
Dunno if you could call critiquing a place on its available merits “whining”. More like “observing”. If the food’s good, that’s great- more power to them- but as I said above: when choosing a place to dine, I want the total package. If the place is ugly (as this one clearly is; one needn’t wait for the opening to see through the window) I’ll be less likely to go. It’s a simple fact . This being NYC there are a disproportionate amount of aesthetes out there; a restaurant owner ignores that at his peril.
My Mom taught me not to say anything if I didn’t have anything nice to say. I’m an adult now; I can comfortably choose to ignore that teaching.
jesus christ! with all of this bitching the place doesn’t stand a chance before its even officially open!! Brooklyn is different from NYC for a reason so don’t all of you be so swift to discard something just because it doesn’t have a hip package. this neighborhood has some of the most exorbenent priced restaurants for a little bit of candlelight and designer imitation. let Brooklyn be abnormally tacky and old school or say goodbye to it cuz soon enough every corner will be filled with Starbucks and Soho esque establishments like Choice Market. if you haven’t noticed it’s sort of skipping over the Cafe Pick Me Up vibe on Avenue A and heading straight for corporate Upper West Yuppie. not everybody moved to Brooklyn because they got “priced out of Manhattan.” some people actually like it the way it is…others have been here their whole lives. maybe there are some people out there who like something more out of life than appearances…like the Gourmet Kitchen before it got run out of town. regardless of anything be happy people are trying to open doors and options and get off their backs until you’ve sat in the place and experienced it personally. or better yet, open your own damn business! who knows, your idea of cheesy is someone else’s idea of home.
WOBASH, you are way way off. I’d say more, but it’s Sunday morning and I’m about to eat some pancakes.
Wobash, my thinking as that more people are interested in Choice Market (invariably crowded despite high prices and slow service) than Gourmet Kitchen, which is, well, closed.
So logic dictates that a new business would be better served by a “Yuppie” aesthetic (your words) than a “Gourmet Kitchen” aesthetic.
I’ll close with the old (but appropriate) adage which is the cornerstone of any good business model: Give the People What They Want.
Oh, and since I’m ‘bitching’ I’ll take exception to your claim that “Brooklyn is different from NYC”.
New York City is , as you undoubtedly know, comprised of five boroughs of which Brooklyn is one.
You probably meant to say that Brooklyn is different from Manhattan. Which would be correct.
I liked the East Village,where I lived for 16 years. the way it was. But nothing in NYC stays the same. Brooklyn is not exempt; since many of the people here ARE here because they were priced out of Manhattan one can expect that those people and the people catering to them will attempt to remold Brooklyn in an image more closely resembling Manhattan.
Anyhow, that’s it for me. I’m going over to thechime’s place for pancakes.
The cheesy factor is a concern because it smacks of a new or inexperienced restaurateur. I will try the place, but hope that the food and service bodes better than the decor would suggest.
Weren’t all restauranteurs new or inexperienced once. Since this place isn’t even open, I think it would be fair to call this place practically fetal. Which would make you naysayers…abortionists.
No,performing abortions would make up abortionists. Naysaying just makes us naysayers. And I haven’t said ‘nay’, I’ve just said ‘ugly’. And, to encapsulate my previous point: If given a choice between two equal restaurants, one being uglier than the other, I’ll naturally default to the less ugly of the two.
Furthermore, if I’m in the market for an abortion and one clinic is uglier than the other…oh, nevermind.
Choice is more of a market than a restaurant of any kind – - not even in the same category. This restaurant isn’t unlike any other in the area…don’t get the critique on decor. Boring. Josi, is the chef, not the owner. Management will be run by the former manager of Chez Oskar, who is excellent and anyone who has been there in the past few months has noticed a substantial change in quality of service since his departure. Their management selection is all set. I learned this information by stopping by and having a conversation with the OWNER of the property, and subsequently, the restaurant.
great work actual resident. now give ‘em the nod to get rid of the iron in the window and we’ll keep headed in the right direction.
I don’t think you guys get it about the stuff in the window. Speakasy places were looking like shops do disguise themselves. I stopped by and thought the place looked okay. I don’t think they are going for fancy. Why not check it out when they open and try the food before you blast the place. I here that Josie’s a great chef!
they should try disguising themselves as a restaurant.
i would much prefer simple, inviting decor of, say, gourmet kitchen, over cheesy gold lamé stuff.
i actually think the place looks too fancy for my taste,
too uptowny…
just hope the place has good food!
Damn!
Haters.
I am going to stoop to the level of those of you who have nothing better to do for the sake of saving someones business.
Try and open a restaurant.
I am sure that the person opening this place is where they are by not wasting their time blogging. Ya’ll should get a life. I’m excited about having a new cozy spot in this area. Definately sick of going all the way to Myrtle, Laffayette or Dekalb. Let’s just wait and see for it to open then give an opinion. The Speakeasy will definately be a great new spot…without haters.
only a hater would point out that you don’t know how to spell the word ‘definitely’. and i’m no hater.
I Walked by this past weekend since I saw people inside. A note on the door said “Private party”. It looked dark & subdued. More like quiet party. I thought it odd that they didn’t have a name up yet, at least I didn’t see one as I said it was dark, just a few little candles. I’m still waiting for a Brwe Pub to open in the hood.
This is quite interesting. Lesterhead, who does the photography through the windows, are you for hire? I need to avenge someone and photos like this would make the company go under! The Chime…who is obviously an English professor and “I-missed-my-dream-of- becoming-a-decorator”, this blog doesn’t come along with “spellcheck”. However, do you rent yourself out to score testpapers? I certainly hope that Speakeasy doesn’t turn out to be a fun and friendly place to dine. I wouldn’t want just some great food to lure me in. I can’t wait until the food critics get hold of this place. I know that they will want to rate the items in the window.
wrong again inamey! i am actually a designer who always longed for the professorial life! now i need to leave this thread, forever.
OT, but what wine bar on myrtle past carletom??? wino wants to know!!!
[...] Top Chef reject Josie is opening her own restaurant (a few blocks from my new house!) No word on when Sanjaya’s album comes out. [...]
lesterhead, thanks for your pics and info. I can’t wait to try it out. I’ll reserve my judgements for the most important thing: the food. I’m just happy another restaurateur sees Clinton Hill as a neighborhood that warrants his or her time, investment, and talent.
To the Jackasses who made all the negitive comments before you even ate there.. Do everyone a favor,, order takeout from your chinese place near your house. Im reading these comments,,, Some of you people are kidding right? Get your own x-hundred of thousands of dollars and try it yourself,, cowards,, throw a stone after you’ve taken the gamble with your own money and put all your sweat into opening a place and have to deal w/ negitive comments before the place even opened… What a bunch of jackasses some of you are.. To the others who are willing to critique after eating the food and experiencing the service,, that’s fair… Jeez
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