Right: Overdose on Second Avenue and East Fourth Street, 1981. Frank Prisinzano opened Frank restaurant in 1998, and he went on to launch two more neighborhood spots Lil Frankies and Supper, a pizzeria and trattoria, respectively. In 1954, Abe Lebewohl opened the 2nd Avenue Deli on Second Avenue and 10th Street. in 1968 and it became Cafe Feenjon, a nightclub featur, Caffe Reggio opened on 119 MacDougal St. in 1927, and still stands relatively unchanged today. At The Pirates Den a beefsteak dinner cost a hefty $1.25. In its heyday, the chain had more than 1,000 locations, which served fried clams and a whopping 28 ice cream flavors. Mob restaurants As the restaurant world turned, July17 Dining in summer Dining by gaslight Anatomy of a restaurateur: CharlesSarris Womens restaurants Restaurant history day Charge it! She and her mother opened the first Crumperie on a shoe string, spending only $100 for the first months rent plus all the furnishings and equipment. Isa Farfan. Coffeehouses went in for oddball names such as above and also the Hungry i in San Francisco, Cosmo Alley in Hollywood, Fickle Pickle and College of Complexes in Chicago, The Cup of Socrates in Detroit, Caf Wha in Greenwich Village, House of Fencing Masters in New Orleans, Laughing Buddha in St. Louiss Gaslight Square, and Caf Mediterraneum in Berkeley. Pie in the skies revolvingrestaurants Way out coffeehouses Taste of a decade: 1890srestaurants Sweet treats and teddybears Its not all glamor, is it Mr.Krinkle? opened on 115 MacDougal St, at the corner of Minetta Lane in the late 1950s. She would make one more unsuccessful attempt at running a Crumperie after her mothers death, teaming up with Marie Saint Gaudens (niece of sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens), at 13 West 51st Street in 1927. ca. The menu, curated by Executive Chef Jonathan Haffmans, features modern American cuisine based on seasonal market ingredients and simply prepared dishes that New Yorkers know and love, such as abundant salads and wood-oven grilled meats, seafood, and pizza. Jim and David, architect Richard Lewis and landscape architect Robin Key, preserved the Victorian/ Gothic elegance of the semi-circular building; it is authentic, natural, elegant and sexy. . Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions. Too bad they closed this location. Refusal of service for inappropriate dress is at discretion of mgmt. Greenwich village, 1980's. Ny Pizza New York Pizza Good Pizza Pizzeria New York Pizza House New York City Ny New York City Manhattan Pizzeria Design John's Pizzaria, West village NY. Montes Trattoria offers an assortment of handmade pasta and dry pasta, including Chef Pietros signature taglierini Paglia e Fieno with prosciutto, cream, and peas. What could be more starkly different from the somber coffee shops of today with their earnest and wired denizens than the beatnik coffeehouses of the 1950s? By most accounts, the food was average but the entertainment was spectacular. He gave the restaurant many technological updates, which allowed the restaurant to begin hosting an annual Oscars party. Tiring of the routine, in 1950 he opened a small restaurant, the Sage, in Greenwich Village, entertaining customers with folk songs. This project is enriched by your participation! 1984. Now, the restaurants vibe has evolved into a romantic and vintage Northern Italian restaurant while still maintaining relatively affordable prices. Ever since members of the Russian Imperial Ballet founded the restaurant in 1927, it has been a second home for boldface names and the intellectual elite-an exclusive enclave where actors, writers, politicians, and businessmen planned their next deals and feted their friends' latest Carnegie Hall performances. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. What made New York New York? Go back in time with these amazing images that capture the gritty, punk-rock days of the East Village. 1981 St Mark's Place NYC Photo Ted Polhemus. Even church basement coffeehouses came under attack. Outside of the kitchen, Chef Pietros son, Pietro, worked as a waiter after his daytime finance job. Gone were the days when people indulged in a nice restaurant dinner only when traveling or celebrating a birthday or anniversary. Toddle House Truckstops Champagne and roses Soup and spirits at thebar Back to nature: TheEutropheon The Swinger Early chains: Baltimore DairyLunch We burn steaks Girls night out 2013, a recap Holiday greetings from VesuvioCaf The Shircliffe menucollection Books, etc., for restaurant historyenthusiasts Roast beef frenzy B.McD. Peter E. Dans reminisced about Sweets in the book Life on the Lower East Side: Photographs by Rebecca Lepkoff, 1937-1950: They took no reservations, and the lines, especially on Fridays, stretched down the stairs of the second floor restaurant and on to Fulton Street. The stunning 5,000 square-foot venue accommodates up to 300 guests with indoor and outdoor seating, allowing for unobstructed views of the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges and Brooklyn Skyline. Guests under the age of 21 must complete their visit by 8pm. In 1995, the blast at Uncle Charlies was discovered to have been one of the first terrorist attacks on U.S. soil by a radical Muslim group. Museum of the City of New York. For someone such as Marie who had herself been in the restaurant business for over 30 years, this would seem to be an odd reaction. The New York Timesreported that El Sayyid A. Nosair, one of the leaders on trial for the terrorist conspiracy to blow up New York City landmarks, allegedly planted the bomb at Uncle Charlies as a protest against homosexuality on religious grounds. Join Untapped New Yorks First Trivia Night with The Gotham Center. In an era driven by the conformist quest for success and button-down normalcy they sheltered misfits, art, and European culture in settings decorated in moody opium-den style or stained-glass/marble/wrought iron junkyard posh assembled from the detritus of American cities then being dismantled. An intimate window-laden, corner restaurant serves French classics pared with curated wine offerings, and it is open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch. In 1912, 97 MacDougal Street was a liquor store. The messy waiter. Its harder and harder for an independent restaurant to survive in New York City, according to an article published in theNew York Timeson October 25, 2016: Is New York Too Expensive for Restaurateurs? The cayenne pepper. Everyone disliked the brightness, the tables wobbled when food was placed on them, and the chairs collapsed when sat on. This year, Veselka will be open until 7 PM on December 25. The recently formedQueer Nationand other groups organized a demonstration of almost 1,500 protesters from Uncle Charlies to the6th Police Precinct Station House at 233 West 10th Street, carrying a banner that read Dykes and Fags Bash Back. The Mayor released a statement calling the bombing the 26th bias incident against the LGBT community that year. Source: Then and Now: Uncle Charlie Remembers Queer Memories of New York Facebook Page. Restaurant-ing al fresco A chefs life: CharlesRanhfer The (partial) triumph of the doggiebag Early chains: John R.Thompson Anatomy of a restaurateur: Mary AllettaCrump Laddition: on discrimination Between courses: dining withreds Banqueting at $herrys* Who invented lobsterNewberg? At the time, the East Village was home to one of the largest expat Ukrainian communities in the world. NOTE: Names above in bold indicate LGBT people. Greenwich village, 1980's. Authorities had an almost obsessive dislike of coffeehouses and their patrons. The boy fiddler. The mock applause. By the time Crumpeys mother passed away in 1926, The Crumperie had occupied five locations in the Village, first moving to Sheridan & Grove, then to the basement of 55 Christopher Street, then to 229 West 4th Street, and finally to 104 Washington Street. It reopened in 2007, on 62 East 33rd Street. The appearance of the check. The bolt for the door. In 1954, Abe Lebewohl opened the 2nd Avenue Deli on Second Avenue and 10th Street. The wailing sounds. Howard Johnson's. Jordan Smith/Flickr. In 1940 he opened yet another Pirates Den, at 335 N. La Brea in Los Angeles, which was co-owned by Rudy Vallee, Bob Hope, and Bing Crosby among others. After this she abandoned the tea room business. Address: 105 Christopher St, New York, NY 10014. But the rise in the number of restaurants speaks beyond pure economic and demographic shifts, and demonstrates the ascension of the local culinary arts. Or a story to share? For years she had no electricity, candles furnishing the only lighting. Due to its small parcels of real estate, progressive attitude, and history of counterculture, the neighborhood is an incubator for aspiring young chefs and restaurateurs just as it has been for musicians, writers, poets, and revolutionaries in decades past. Edmund Vincent Gillon. The boatmans song. It reopened in 2007, on 62 East 33rd Street. The trial resulted in Nosair being sentenced to life in prison. The chemical wine. Montes Trattoria has served Italian food in Greenwich Village since 1918. In 1915 she moved to 20 Christopher Street and it was at this location, the one she occupied the longest, that her name became well known. Lebewohl, an immigrant from Ukraine who had escaped pogroms and death camps, was known among strangers and employees alike for his generosity. Open Fri-Mon, 105, Thur, 10-9. The cultural space and mindshare occupied by music and art in decades past is now increasingly focused on restaurants and dining. Left: Inside CBGB, 1982. It had no timing device and was lighted and placed in a garbage can inside the bar moments before the blast. In 1967, the actor Patrick ONeal and his brother Michael opened ONeals Saloon across from Lincoln Center. And a surge of Chinese students in the area has led to a boom in stylish new restaurants serving hyper-specific regional Chinese cuisines, meaning the neighborhood is now home to Yunnan-style mifen (rice noodles) at Little Tong Noodle Shop, Sichuan dry pot at ML Project, Cajun-Chinese seafood boil at Le Sia, and Taiwanese beef noodle soup at Ho Foods. The classic coffeehouses of the beatnik era were sites for conversation, poetry readings, folk music, improvisational jazz, stand-up comedy la Mort Sahl, and experimental theater. He also was a childrens book illustrator, a poet, and an author of essays and novels. (See Dupo IL high school coffeehouse photo.) Adolph's Asti was an Italian restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village.It was unique in that many of the waiters were professional opera singers who routinely performed for the restaurant guests. The damage caused by the storm, coupled with the several months worth of back rent the restaurant was said to owe (their rent had increased as the neighborhood became more desirable) shuttered Sweets restaurant for good. Would you like to suggest a different historic site? The descending steps. We Do the Math. Here we look back at restaurants that enjoyed a successful run in our city: Sweets Restaurant was established in 1842 by Abraham M. Sweet on Fulton Street, in what is now the Schermerhorn Row Block Site in the South Street Seaport. The Russian cigarette. Landmarked areas include the Gansevoort Market Historic District (112 buildings), Weehawken Street Historic District (14 buildings) and Greenwich . May 16, 1990 Outweek article by Andrew Miller and Duncan Osborne about the bomb and protests. James C. McKinley Jr., Man Accused in Terror Plot Bombed Gay Bar, U.S. Says, The New York Times, January 15, 1995. The groan. Life Cafe (1981 to 2012), Yaffa Cafe (1983 to 2014), and San Loco (1986 to 2017) are now closed, but Cafe Mogador (1983), Two Boots (1987, which started off as a full-service restaurant), and Pauls Palace (1989, now known as Pauls Da Burger Joint) are still around today. 1975-1992. Restaurants of1936 Regulars Steakburgers and shakes A famous fake Music in restaurants Co-operative restaurant-ing Dainty Dining, thebook Famous in its day: Miss HullingsCafeteria Celebrating in style 2011 year-end report Famous in its day: Reeves Bakery, Restaurant, CoffeeShop Washing up Taste of a decade: 1910srestaurants Dipping into the fingerbowl The Craftsman, a modelrestaurant Anatomy of a restaurateur: ChinFoin Hot Cha and the KapokTree Find of the day: DemosCaf Footnote on roadhouses Spectacular failures: Caf delOpera Product placement inrestaurants Lunch and abeer White restaurants It was adilly Wayne McAllisters drive-ins in theround Making a restaurant exciting, on thecheap Duncans beefs Anatomy of a restaurateur: Anna deNaucaze The checkered career of theroadhouse Famous in its day: the AwareInn Waiters games Anatomy of a restaurateur: HarrietMoody Basic fare: salad Image gallery: tallyho Famous in its day: PignWhistle Confectionery restaurants Etiquette violations: eating off yourknife Frenchies, oui, oui Common victualing 1001 unsavorinesses Find of the day:Steubens Taste of a decade: 1850srestaurants Famous in its day:Wolfies Good eaters: me The all-American hamburger Waitress uniforms: bloomers Theme restaurants: Russian! It was originally a candy shop and newsstand. Tea at the MaryLouise Restaurant-ing as a civilright Once trendy: tomato juicecocktails Famous in its day: Thompsons Spa The browning of McDonalds Eating, dining, and snacking at thefair A Valentine with soul(food) Down and out in St.Louis Serving the poor For the record The ups and downs of FrankFlower Famous in its day, now infamous: Coon ChickenInn Nothing but the best, 19thcen. Now no reason was needed at all. Greenwich Village Add to trip 14th Street and West of Broadway, New York City, NY. Uncle Charlie's Downtown opened in the early 1980s in Greenwich Village, part of a popular chain of gay bars in New York City. Now in place of this sidewalk scene you'll find a Taco Bell and a couple of tattoo parlors. In addition to Romanian dishes such as meat pies and cabbage rolls, Marie specialized in strong coffee which she advertised as Caf Noir la Turque. Also of note is Second Avenue Deli, which operated in the East Village from 1954 to 2006 (it relocated after a lengthy closure and is now located in Murray Hill). [Alan Webb as Nonno, Margaret Leighton as Hannah Jelkes and Patrick ONeal as The Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon in The Night of the Iguana.] But the New York State Liquor Authority threatened to revoke ONeals license unless the business dropped the word saloon from its name. While Club 57 and the Mudd Club co-existed in the exact same years1978 to 1983the latter launched in larger digs with more mainstream appeal. Early vegetarian restaurants Famous in its day:Blancos Blue plate specials Basic fare: clubsandwiches Gossip feeds restaurants Image gallery: businesscards Restaurant row At the sign of the . By submitting your email, you agree to our, The freshest news from the local food world, Greenwich Village Restaurants in the '50s and '60s. It operated almost continuously for 157 years, pausing for the time right before and during the Civil War, and again from 1982-1983 as the landmark building underwent restoration. Petite Boucherie is inspired by the elegance of Parisian Belle poque, and with a hand-crafted menu of timeless dishes, the intimate bistro serves as a community hub for engaging conversation.We look forward to welcoming you! She became involved with the school where she met artists and thinkers who later became her patrons and, sometimes, volunteer waiters. Prior to that it was considered part of the Lower East Side, and was populated for much of its history by German and Jewish immigrants. Before World War I artists in NYC were attracted to cheap, unpretentious little ethnic restaurants in the basements of brownstones that dotted unfashionable side streets. In the late 1980s it became a 24-hour establishment. Sometimes customers were encouraged to participate. Something went wrong. The thumb in the soup. Besides a brief hiatus, from 1969 to 1975, when a Blimpie and an ice cream shop took the, This picture of Like It Is, a bar, was included in a, Sign up for the The Mafia's. It's interesting to watch the shifts in neighborhoods. They were outraged by the escalation of violence against LGBT people in the streets of New York, and the continued existence of anti-gay discrimination. He was murdered in a robbery on March 4, 1996 as he attempted to deliver cash deposits to a bank. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); My great uncle always had a lunch reservation at the head table, just inside the doors at the top of the stairs. 2013.3.2.369. During the 1930s, the Greenwich Village had become the center for budding artists, and restaurants from diners to jazz clubs were popping throughout the neighborhood. On April 28, 1990, at 12:10 a.m., a homemade pipe bomb exploded, injuring three men who were later treated for minor injuries at nearbySt. Vincents Hospital. About a dozen customers were taken into the back room, dressed in monks robes and handed little imitation candles. An antiquated law on the books made it illegal to serve alcohol in such premises as were commonly known and referred to as saloons. So, the establishment changed the S to B and became ONeals Baloon. While the road to 2000 is fairly easy to follow, the meteoric ascension of the East Village as a dining neighborhood in the 21st century especially in the last decade is somewhat harder to quantify, so dizzying has the progress been. African-American tea rooms Romantic dinners Flaming swords Theme restaurants: castles Know thy customer Menue [sic] mistakes Waiter, telephone please! Conference-ing Top posts in2010 Variations on the wordrestaurant Famous in its day: BuschsGrove Between courses: a Thanksgivingtoast Basic fare: Frenchfries Linens and things partII Linens and things partI Menu art Dining in shadows Spotlight on NYCrestaurants Laddition: on tipping Taste of a decade: 1870srestaurants He-man menus That glass ofwater Famous in its day: TonyFausts Theme restaurants: prisons Laddition: French on the menu, dratit Anatomy of a restaurateur: RomanyMarie Between courses: onlyone? Photo by: Jill Lynne. Get used to it! The group developed chapters in cities nationwide, including Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Portland, and San Francisco. From $5 soft-serve ice cream to $500 tasting menus, Chang has conquered the East Village. The various Greenwich Village Crumperies were gathering places for New York City artists, musicians, literary figures, and actors with the Providence Players. Filed under Offbeat places, proprietors & careers, women, Tagged as Greenwich Village, NYC restaurants, Romanian cuisine, Romany Marie, women restaurateurs, Because she ran a tea room, Mary Alletta Crumpey Crump (pictured, age 31) actually would not have called herself a restaurateur. on McDougal Street and Gerde's Folk City at 11 West 4th Street, singers including Fred Neil . The walls of Asti featured many framed, autographed photographs of opera singers . Arnie Charnick. The limping home. Museum of the City of New York. 73.34.36 New York Public Library. New Yorks restaurant scene is one of the many aspects of this remarkable city that has shifted with the time. At Tiny's, brunch, and dinner menus blend classic techniques with local market ingredients. The ride downtown. A globally influenced seafood restaurant, set in a landmark building at the heart of Manhattans Meatpacking District, Catch New York features modern renditions of classic dishes served in streaming, shareable style of dining. Dj vu! Another nightclub at the heart of the Greenwich Village music and comedy scene, Cafe Wha? Its harder and harder for an independent restaurant to survive in New York City, according to an article published in the New York Times on October 25, 2016: Is New York Too Expensive for Restaurateurs? Ray's Pizza - Greenwich Village, NY. Private dining available as well. (between 10th & Charles St.) (212) 989-2100 Southwestern restaurant & tequila bar - Airs Champagne Parlor: 127 MacDougal St. (W. 3rd St.) (212) 420-4777 Champagne bar pairing oysters, caviar and Kobe beef carpaccio - After failing to make a living as a toy designer and childrens book illustrator, he opened a tea room in the Village primarily as a place to display his hand-painted toys. The spaces they occupy are discordant both architecturally and culturally with the rest of the neighborhood. Photo by Ken Lustbader. Washington Square Park Celebration Saturday, April 13 from 12:00-3:00pm in Garibaldi Plaza Historic District Open House Weekend Saturday, April 13 - Sunday, April 14 Full calendar at gvshp.org/GVHD50weekend The neighborhood, known alternately as the Yiddish Rialto, the Yiddish Broadway and the Yiddish Theater District, was already transitioning at that point the glory days of Yiddish theater were over, with fewer and fewer Yiddish theaters in existence. Drinks (non-alcoholic) included Pink Goats Delight and Blue Horses Neck. A vibrant multi-level space in the historic Shapiro's Winery, Essex offers intimate seating as well as group dining and event spaces. Marie, who as a teenager came to the US from Romania in 1901, said she patterned her taverns (so-called though she served no alcoholic drinks) after the inn her mother ran for gypsies in the old country. 97.146.33 Sweet's also survived, up to a point, the area's transformation that began in the 1980s, from a neglected waterfront into an upscale shopping district. View Menu 237 Sullivan St New York, NY 10012 (Map & Directions) (212) 673-0050 Reported as permanently closed. 97.146.255. Between courses: mysteryfood Ode to franchises ofyesteryear Chuck wagon-ing Taste of a decade: 1940srestaurants Just cause it looks bad doesnt mean itsgood The other Delmonicos Between courses: Beard at LuckyPierres Basic fare: spaghetti Famous in its day: TheMaramor Between courses: wheres mybutter? Over time he ran five clubs and restaurants in New York City. 1975. The long walk up town. The menu reflects Modern American cuisine with Italian and French influences. At the time, the East Village was home to one of the largest expat Ukrainian communities in the world. During and after her years in the food business, M. Alletta volunteered for war work, entertaining the troops in England with her ukulele playing during WWI (she also sang spirituals and folk songs in the tea room). Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! Sweets also survived, up to a point, the areas transformation that began in the 1980s, from a neglected waterfront into an upscale shopping district. Your email address will not be published. Nonetheless, Lebewohl paid homage to the areas heritage by creating the Yiddish Walk of Fame on the sidewalk outside the deli, honoring such stars as Paul Muni, Lillian Lux and Abraham Goldfaden. 1996: Burger Chef. 97.146.3 Italian immigrant Adolph Mariani opened Adolph's Asti Restaurant in Greenwich Village in 1928, when his dreams of becoming an opera singer did not pan out. The narrow hall-way. Required fields are marked *. However, Veselka closed its doors for the first time last year, to celebrate Christmas day. Marie continued in the restaurant business until 1946 when she retired to care for Arnold. The Bed. Beverages included tea, coffee, and chocolate nothing alcoholic! That's what Bennigan's, an Irish-themed bar and grill, offered in the 1980s. But the New York State Liquor Authority threatened to revoke ONeals license unless the business dropped the word saloon from its name. Luncheonette Life. Uncle Charlies bar on Greenwich Avenue, October 1992. Fred Harvey revisited Street food: tamales Famous in its day:Blums Women chefs before the1970s Speed eating Top posts in2020 Holiday greetings from 11thHeaven Dining with UsMortals Your favorite restaurant? This year, Veselka will be open until 7 PM on December 25. Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when youre feeling flush). Seen here on Dec. 4, 2003, the club opened in 1974 and hosted many famous musicians from Eric Clapton to the Police to Muddy Waters. Life Cafe (1981 to 2012), Yaffa Cafe (1983 to 2014), and San Loco (1986 to 2017) are now closed, but Cafe Mogador (1983), Two Boots (1987, which started off as a full-service restaurant), and. It attracted a younger, suit-and-tie crowd and, over time, gained a reputation as a so-called S and M (Stand and Model) bar, due to the fact that numerous patrons stared more at the TV screens than talk with each other. The small 2-story building at the NE corner of Bleecker and Christopher, #329 shown above, is one of the oldest in Greenwich Village; it was constructed during the Jefferson administration. It was in the post-World War II era that the East Village became known as the "pierogi belt," due to the spate of restaurants that opened up to feed the hungry Ukrainians and Poles who flocked to the neighborhood. The bar, with its large modern interior and television screens, was a stark contrast to the prior generation of gay bars that were perceived as outdated and dark. It closed after 9/11. They are big, ambitious projects from chef/owners who made their names and fortunes elsewhere. The building dates to 1810 and much of the original materials have been restored and overlayed with whimsical American finish detail. Fusion / Eclectic Lower East Side, Contemporary American TriBeCa - Downtown, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Although the word beatnik came into usage around 1958 (inspired partly by Sputnik), the phenomenon of dropping out of the rat race to lead an existentialist, non-consumerist life was part of the aftermath of World War II akin to the Lost Generation after World War I. Changs restaurants occupy an especially important place because they have had a global impact. Dining underground on LongIsland My blogging anniversary Underground dining Odors and aromas Digging for dinner Restaurant as communitycenter The Mister chains Celebrity restaurants: HeresJohnnys Pizza by any othername Womens lunch clubs The long life of ElFenix Pausing to reflect Sugar on thetable Famous in its day: LePavillon Native American restaurants Restaurant ware An early French restaurantchain Biblical restaurants Thanksgiving dinner at ahotel Dinner and amovie Restaurant murals Dining at theCentennial Restaurant-ing in 1966 Romanian restaurants Nans Kitchens Fish & chips & alligatorsteaks Appetizer: words, concepts,contents French fried onionrings Hash house lingo The golden age ofsandwiches Black Tulsas restaurants They delivered Americas finest restaurant,revisited Tableside theater Bicycling to lunch anddinner Anatomy of a chef: JohnDingle Sunny side up? An antiquated law on the books made it illegal to serve alcohol in such premises as were commonly known and referred to as saloons. So, the establishment changed the S to B and became ONeals Baloon. Beginning in the early 20th century and especially since the Beat movement of the early 1950s, Greenwich Village had been a mecca for creative radicalsartists, poets, jazz musicians, and guitar-playing folk and blues singersfrom all over the United States. Village Vanguard, Greenwich Village, NYC - August 20, 1987. A John Birch Society member lectured youths at a YMCA coffeehouse in a Chicago suburb about how dissolute their gathering place was (You cant tell the difference between boys and girls). Unquestionably, gentrification has played a role in the evolution of the neighborhood's dining scene.