Diner's Journal
Posts tagged with TAVERN ON THE GREEN
Dean Poll Buys Gallagher's
By Glenn Collins
Gallagher's Steak House, in 1994.Credit Jack Manning/The New York Times
As expected, Gallagher's, the 85-year-old near-Broadway steakhouse that was a shrine to Runyonesque Manhattan, has been purchased by Dean J. Poll, who has run the Central Park Boathouse for more than 12 years. The restaurant has been open continuously since it announced that it was for sale in October.
The deal, first reported by The New York Post, has been ratified by Local 100, the restaurant union that represents its 92 employees, Mr. Poll said in an interview. "Gallagher's is like the Four Seasons or P.J. Clarke's, it's a historic part of New York," he said, adding that it will continue to be called Gallagher's. He negotiated a new 20-year lease at the building at 228 West 52d Street with Marlene Brody, its half-owner, who took control of the restaurant after the 2001 death of her husband, Jerome Brody, the longtime Gallagher's owner.
Tavern on the Green to Close Next Week
Glenn Collins
The Central Park Visitor Center at Tavern on the Green — which for 18 months has occupied the building that held the once-glittering landmark restaurant Tavern on the Green — will close on Wednesday afternoon for more than a year for a $9.8-million renovation project that will prepare the structure for a new restaurant tenant, as yet unnamed.
The city originally spent $2.5 million to stabilize the building, patch its roof and upgrade its heating, ventilation, wiring and sprinkler systems before the Parks Commissioner, Adrian Benepe, opened the visitor center to much fanfare in October 2010.
Joe Soldevere, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Design and Construction, said the new renovation — to be completed in the summer of 2013 — will restore the building's historic facade, install a new slate roof, upgrade mechanical systems and spruce up the core and shell of the structure in preparation for its occupancy by a new concessionaire. Read more…
Tavern on the Green Draws At Least Two Bidders — and Many 'No, Thank You's
Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times
After kicking the tires of Tavern on the Green, the site of the former glamorous landmark in Central Park, at least two restaurateurs say they will put in a bid on Friday with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation for a 20-year license to establish a restaurant and bar there.
The two are Legends Hospitality Management, which runs the Legends Club and suite-and-seat catering at Yankee Stadium; and Beau Monde, a bustling French-accented bistro in Philadelphia that specializes in savory and sweet crepes.
But even though dozens of restaurateurs attended a February walk-through of the space (above), which is now called the Central Park Visitors Center at Tavern on the Green, many high-profile operators have decided against putting in a bid. They include Drew Nieporent of Corton and Nobu; the Orient-Express Hotels, owner of the "21" Club; Penny Glazier of the Glazier Group, which owns Bridgewaters at the South Street Seaport; the chef Bill Telepan of Telepan; and Donald J. Trump, who was so interested in taking over the tavern that he came to an agreement, in advance, with the powerful Hotel and Motel Trades Council, the union that represented 400 workers there.
"It is just too small a deal now, and nobody is going to go there," said Mr. Trump, explaining why he declined to bid for the space that once held one of the highest-grossing independently owned restaurants in the United States.
Friday is the deadline for proposals to establish a casual restaurant and bar in the tavern space, just west of the Sheep Meadow, near 67th Street and Central Park West. Tara Kiernan, a spokeswoman for the city parks department, which is overseeing the process, said that even after the deadline, the agency's concession procedures would "prevent us from saying who applied or how many proposals were submitted." Read more…
Feb 1, 2012 Feb 1, 2012
Tavern on the Green, Take Three
They didn't kick the tires — Tavern on the Green doesn't have any, never did — but more than 100 representatives of potential bidders for the once-glamorous restaurant in Central Park examined the now pared-down premises during an hourlong, city-run tour on Wednesday.
They saw a dining space less than half the size of the twinkling catering hall that stood there three years ago, trimmed to its landmarked core and ready for the city's plans for a more casual, moderately priced restaurant and bar with an innovative menu.
With its ambitions toned down, the city attracted visitors like Mario Carbone and his business partner Jeff Zalaznick of Torrisi Italian Specialties and Parm, tiny, low-key but widely admired Italian restaurants on Mulberry Street.
"We're excited to see the facility," Mr. Carbone said, declining to say any more. "We're taking it all in," Mr. Zalaznick said. "The question is how casual they'll let the restaurant be. It used to be a pretty formal place."
Dave Arnold, of the French Culinary Institute and Booker & Dax bar at Momofuku Ssam Bar, said he was there to check out Tavern "for a potential project," which he wouldn't elaborate on. Others on the tour included the restaurateurs Drew Nieporent; Bill Telepan; Penny and Peter Glazier and their son Mathew; Bryan McGuire, general manager of the "21" Club; August J. Ceradini Jr., the former owner of World Yacht Cruises; a lawyer for Il Cantinori; managers of the City Winery and the Great Performances catering company, and a representative from LDV Hospitality of Scarpetta restaurant. Read more…
Dec 6, 2011 Dec 6, 2011
City Bungled Tavern on the Green Concessions, Audit Says
New York City has badly mishandled the creation of concessions at the former Tavern on the Green, said an audit released on Monday by the city's comptroller, John C. Liu.
The audit found that for a number of concessions around the city, the Parks and Recreation Department forfeited $6.9 million in revenue in the previous three fiscal years by failing to solicit bids and award licenses in a timely fashion, and another $1.9 million for rejecting bids without maintaining the required documentation.
But the report singled out Tavern on the Green. After the restaurant closed in January 2010, the audit said, the city lost the chance to collect $2.2 million in concession fees, and the city and state had lost $3.7 million in sales tax revenue because of unnecessary delays. The city awarded a license to a new operator, but the deal fell apart after that operator failed to reach an agreement with the union representing Tavern employees. The site has since reopened, on a temporary basis, as a visitor center, food court and retail store.
Parks officials disagreed strongly with the audit's conclusions, calling them "misleading and unfounded."
Kate Taylor provides a full report on the audit in City Room.
City Will Take Bids for a Casual Replacement for Tavern on the Green
Parks Department officials confirmed a report on the DNAinfo blog that
they will seek bidders to run a smaller, more casual restaurant at the former Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
The new restaurant will not be focused on catering events, as was Tavern, they said, and since the city will restore the building to its original configuration, it will not include a restored Crystal Room, which had made large events economically feasible. Read more…
Company Pays $1.3 Million for Tavern on the Green's Name
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
A licensing company has agreed to pay $1.3 million to use the name Tavern on the Green for restaurants outside metropolitan New York, under a deal approved by Tavern's bankruptcy trustee.
New York City retained ownership of the name in New York state, Connecticut, New Jersey, and part of Pennsylvania in an earlier settlement. Under a deal approved on Thursday by the trustee, Jill Mazer-Marino, Tavern International can use the name and license it outside that area. The company can also use the name on products, but cannot sell them in the New York area without getting the city's permission and paying it a royalty, said Gerald E. Singleton, the city's senior attorney for intellectual property.
Tavern International was set up by Lou Bivona, a financial manager, who will be working with Michael Desiderio, the former chief operating officer of the restaurant. They say they will require licensees to donate a portion of revenues to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which Mr. Bivona has supported for many years.
At one time the name Tavern on the Green was appraised at $19 million, but that was when the LeRoy family, the restaurant's former owner, thought they owned the trademark and could sell it to the city. A federal judge ruled last year that the city owned the trademark and that Warner LeRoy had obtained it fraudulently.
Vendor Is Ousted as City Plans to Renovate Tavern Site
Glenn CollinsThe Pera food truck last fall when it was displaced to Central Park South during the New York City Marathon.
An owner of one of the three temporary food trucks at the former site of Tavern on the Green in Central Park said city officials have told him that they may not renew his contract for next year because major work on the site was possible.
While an official said the city was renovating and stabilizing the visitors center that replaced Tavern last year, the building already underwent a $2.5 million refurbishment before opening last fall. Any extensive work on the site could mean the city was considering inviting bids again for a new restaurant there next year.
"We've been told that a capital renewal project is in the works slated for spring or summer next year," said Burak Karacam, managing owner of the Pera Turkish Taco truck. "We haven't received any word officially, but in a series of e-mail exchanges we've been told the city is in the early stages of considering construction."
The Pera truck has inhabited the terrace at the Central Park Visitor Center at Tavern on the Green since last fall. The terrace, near West 67th Street, is located where the Crystal Room of Warner LeRoy's restaurant once stood.
A spokeswoman for the New York City Parks Department had no comment.
Andrew Brent, a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, said that the one-year leases of the three vendors at the site — the Pera truck, the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck and the Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Truck — were up in October, "and the vendors were told that we may issue temporary permits in the spring." He added, "If we do, the current vendors would get first right of refusal."
Mr. Brent said that engineers from the city's Department of Design and Construction "are doing basic stabilization and renovation work" at the landmarked visitor center, addressing "the basic elements of the building." He added, "They are keeping options open for use in the future. At the moment we don't have firm plans for future uses of the site." Visits by design department officials had been reported by Crain's New York Business.
However, city officials have said previously that they have not given up on the idea of re-establishing a restaurant on the site and that the timing for an invitation for bids — called a request for proposal — would depend on the state of the economy and the likelihood of attracting bidders.
8:25 p.m. | Updated
On Thursday, Dean N. Poll, the proprietor of the Central Park Boathouse, and the New York Hotel Trades Council announced a tentative four-year union contract after a bitter 44-day strike at the restaurant. Mr. Poll's effort to take over the old Tavern on the Green failed after six months of turbulent negotiations with the same union.
At the time Mr. Poll's lawyer, Barry B. LePatner, said that Mr. Poll would be unlikely to make another run at the restaurant. But on Thursday, after the contract settlement, Frank Marino, a spokesman for Mr. Poll, said that "Dean continues to have a strong interest in Tavern on the Green and this agreement with the Hotel Trades Council certainly lays out a blueprint for a future deal at Tavern should the opportunity present itself." Read more…
What's Always Been Missing in Food Trucks: Alcohol
Pera Mediterranean Brasserie
The Pera Turkish Taco Truck, stationed daily at the tourist office and gift shop that was once Tavern on the Green, has won what is apparently the first liquor license granted to a New York City food truck.
Burak Karacam, the owner of both the truck and the brick-and-mortar Pera Mediterranean Brasserie, was issued the license Thursday and plans to begin serving Friday. The full license from the New York State Liquor Authority permits the truck to offer beer, wine and cocktails during regular operating hours, as long as the beverages are consumed in the truck's assigned seating area on the terrace.
Pera applied for the license in March. William Crowley, a spokesman for the Liquor Authority, confirmed that Pera's was the city's first food-truck liquor license. He said the application was approved because the truck was limited to a "specifically defined area."
"We are honored to have been granted this singular, precedent-setting privilege," said Mr. Karacam, who also thanked the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation for giving its blessing to al fresco alcohol.
Two of the four trucks on the plaza — Rickshaw Dumpling and Ladle of Love — are believed to have applied for liquor licenses as well; the VanLeeuwen Ice Cream truck has not. They debuted on the plaza Oct. 15 when the visitor center opened to the public.
This story has been updated with comment from the State Liquor Authority.
Piotr Redlinski for The New York Times On Sunday, you can buy your fill of pierogi, as well as babka and cakes, at Our Lady of Czestochowa-St. Casimir church in Brooklyn.
Beer and bivalves are the theme of Bierkraft's new backyard and garden space, 191 Fifth Avenue (between Berkeley Place and Union Street), in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Starting at noon on Saturday there will be an oyster shuck fest with 15 special cask beers.
Mussel Pot, 174 Bleecker Street (Sullivan Street), Greenwich Village, starts brunch service this weekend from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with mussel dishes off the dinner menu and more typical brunch fare. An outdoor garden will also be open. And the Spanish-themed restaurant Cadaques, 188 Grand Street (Bedford Avenue), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, will be serving weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with tapas, burgers and brunch specials will be available.
The Tavern on the Green Food Truck Terrace, at 67th Street and Central Park West, opens for the first time this season on Saturday at 11 .m. and on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. there will be free food and live music. The Ladle of Love, Pera Turkish Tacos, Rickshaw Dumplings and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream trucks will each serve one free dish per person. After this weekend, the food trucks will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. until dusk. Read more…
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