It’s not much of a shock — it’s been listed on Trulia for months — but Graham Avenue’s popular fish shack Sel De Mer closed last week. It will be missed.
Just around the corner another “restaurant,” White Castle closed too. We’d be happy to see it go if it weren’t being replaced by more bullshit condos.
The terribly mediocre Lokal shut down too. In it’s place, Greenpointers will soon have an Maison Premier outpost, which is NOT a bad trade-off:
The many, many fans of Maison Premiere’s oysters and absinthe will be excited to learn that owners Joshua Boissy and Krystof Zizka are opening a new restaurant in 2015, at 905 Lorimer Street in Williamsburg. Details are scarce, but considering the success of their first project, this is a big deal.
When Maison Premiere opened in February 2011, it was primarily a bar — with oysters, of course — and in the past few years, it’s become a Brooklyn institution of sorts. The stunning garden, now-expanded menu, and jazzy French Quarter vibe make it wildly appealing. But despite its success, Boissy and Zizka themselves have stayed relatively under the radar — perhaps because neither is a chef. All Grub knows about their new project is that it’s in the former home of Lokal , a 70-seat space across from McCarren Park.
Smart move too, given all the traffic that its neighbor Five Leaves already recieves.
Also, Arrogant Swine will FINALLY be opening next week in Bushwick/East Williamsburg or whatever its called these days:
Pitmaster Tyson Ho will open his self-proclaimed “Church of Pork” and beer hall Arrogant Swine in the evening of October 8. Ho plans to Christen the church in true Bushwick fashion, complete with a party where local graffiti artists will spray paint murals for the restaurant, and free pig tattoos will be on offer, courtesy of neighborhood tattoo shop Gnostic. There will of course be whole hog barbecue, and it should be pretty darn good. Ho, who is relatively new to the barbecue scene trained with legendary Carolina pitmaster Ed Mitchell and perfected his craft at the Hog Days of Summer, a series of whole hog parties he hosted at John Brown Smokehouse last year.
Oh and this REALLY sucks, but the Brooklyn Rod and Gun is closing:
The defilement of the Williamsburg waterfront continues apace. Two weeks after Death by Audio announced they’d be closing in November, yesterday Bedford+Bowery reported that Brooklyn Rod and Gun is shutting its doors by year’s end, too. It seems that the social club saw the writing on the wall. “The jig is up,” organizer Chris Raymond told B+B, “and we’re moving on.” He could have been speaking about the tenability of any DIY space in Williamsburg.
From the Eater article:
“the affluence is beginning to trickle further afield into the eastern regions of the neighborhood, including Graham (where the White Castle plot sold for $6.72 million)”
‘Nuff said. Join the real estate money lust, or get left behind.