The NYC ‘Streateries’ Diary, Pt. 2
Restaurant owners, patrons and locals weigh in on the pandemic-induced outdoor dining takeover in New York City.
Learn more about the project here | Read Part 1 and Part 3
Chelsea’s Loulou Restaurant Survives Pandemic, Rebuilds Outdoor Dining After Arson
Reopening day at Loulou Petit Bistro and Speakeasy, a quaint Chelsea restaurant, is delayed once again. Two months ago, owner Mathias Van Leyden worried about rebuilding the New York City French bistro after it was alit by serial arsonist Alex Blodgett. This as Van Leyden barely completed his first year of business.
“We opened February of last year right before COVID started,” said Van Leyden. “We went through a crazy year already.”
Loulou launched three weeks before the city went into lockdowns last year. As a result, Van Leyden was forced to let all his staff go except his bartender and chef. He pivoted to serving food and drinks in mason jars from an open window at the eatery before turning his strategy to delivery-only.
The restaurant came out of the shutdown thriving, having taken all mandated precautions such as outdoor dining, mask requirements and setting tables at least three feet apart. Even with such strict safeguards, Van Leyden said the restaurant never sacrificed style and experience.
This grand unveiling, initially scheduled for the second week of September, was supposed to be about the culmination of launching and staying afloat during the pandemic. It was also meant to signify a comeback after the fire decimated the 1940s-era building in August, destroying two of the three outdoor eating structures and much of the main restaurant. No one was injured, but the damages totaled $250,000.
The outdoor structures had accounted for a large portion of Loulou’s sales throughout the pandemic.
The eating enclosures were charming. Vines and brightly colored strings of flowers covered the rustic wooden walls decorated with French designs on three boxcars that run along the street, parallel to the main restaurant. Outdoor diners are completely closed off, transported to a Parisian garden oasis. The only jolts back to reality are traffic noise — the car horns of impatient taxi drivers and the rings of bicyclists speeding past the corner of 8th Avenue and 19th Street.
This bright uniqueness of Loulou’s exterior is what captivates locals and passersby.
“The whole wall opens up to the outside,” West Village resident Lekha Alaparthi said, describing the front wall of the restaurant. “The outside has a really nice outdoor eating area they decorated [with] a cool ceiling and flowers and fun spots to take photos.”
The first thing that caught Kristen Reinert’s eye was the “pretty outdoor seating.” She said this aspect of the restaurant continues to stand out in Chelsea.
“I left the city for a while during COVID,” said Reinert, who celebrated her 25th birthday at the chic spot in March. “When I was getting ready to come back, I was seeing this place Loulou all over Instagram. I had never heard of it before, but it seemed like over COVID it was the main place where everyone was going.”
Van Leyden jumped into rebuilding mode after the fire, knowing Loulou’s facade was its strongest feature. He vowed to restore bit by bit, determined to remain a staple for years to come in the culturally rich neighborhood.
“I am rebuilding nicer than before, it’s kind of the silver lining to all this,” Van Leyden said. “I want to set this [dining] experience apart from an average place. We don’t spare any money. My investors are not very happy because they see the bills, but they also see the sales.”
Van Leyden applied the same spare no dime mentality to the rebuilding process.
The restaurant is now decked out with elaborate floral decorations that are more extravagant than the ones burned down, outdoor seating vessels adorned with greenery and French designs, and two new outdoor structures — each costing the restaurant about $50,000 to construct. An investment Van Leyden hopes will attract customers for the long haul.
He said redesigning the new outdoor seating carts was another silver lining coming out of the destruction left by the fire. Restaurants now know they need to remove outdoor cabins during the winter months. So, as Van Leyden reconstructed, he made Loulou’s outdoor enclosures easy to assemble and remove using collapsible metal that can be easily wheeled away.
“We can reuse these next year, and the money is not lost,” Van Leyden said, explaining the cost of the outdoor carts. “With a metal frame under it, [I] can move it in and out when I need to and bring it back after the snow season is gone.”
The outdoor enclosures and updated floral arrangements aren’t the only improvements. Loulou now has a Parisian glass awning above the door, a take-away coffee window in the back, and an attractive mural of the restaurant’s namesake and owner’s beloved dog, Louis, decorating the front of the building.
As Van Leyden continues to endure reopening barriers after successfully reconstructing due to delayed approvals from the city for required gas lines, his optimism hasn’t wavered.
“My whole life is crashing in, yes. But it’s OK,” he said. “You keep your head up. It will be fine.”
Top New York City Indian Restaurant’s Unique Outdoor Dining Saves Restaurant From Closure
On the corner of Franklin and Hudson, small white sheds guard the exterior of Tamarind Tribeca. Two-story high windows used to surround the restaurant and gave incoming patrons glimpses of the decadent dining room and chandeliers. Now, this view is cut off. And while passersby cannot see the Wid Chapman designed interior, the white sheds saved Tamarind Tribeca.
The outdoor dining experience at Tamarind is based on intimacy. The white sheds that surround the restaurant act as private dining rooms, giving guests their own space away from other outdoor diners. This idea enhanced the outdoor dining experience at this Indian restaurant and prevented it from closing.
“It’s the only reason we’re still open,” said Ganesh Ublay, the general manager. Tamarind already had a huge following when it was located in the Flatiron District and awarded a Michelin Star. Moving to Tribeca in 2015, Tamarind remained one of the top fine-dining Indian restaurants in the city.
Regardless of accolades, when COVID-19 forced them to close their doors, it was uncertain if they would ever open again.
But in June 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo made a new policy allowing outdoor dining in municipal spaces. Tamarind reopened weeks later, expanding its capacity to the sidewalks of Tribeca.
“We didn’t start with the [sheds],” Ublay said. “It really just started off with tables outside.”
The first phase of reopening, they resembled what most restaurants began implementing that summer. They used the sidewalk to structure dining spaces, surrounded by a wooden barrier, with flowers and ivy decorated on top. But this setup was not sustainable.
“When it started getting colder, we had to transition,” Ublay said, describing how they had to construct a large tent as the seasons changed. They used outdoor heaters to keep diners warm, but the restaurant realized they were missing what they thought was an essential aspect of dining at Tamarind.
“We wanted to keep the intimate dining experience that we had on the inside,” Ublay said, “and bring it outdoors on the sidewalk.”
They then constructed, in-house, outdoor sheds that could be used as private dining rooms for guests. The tables in each shed vary by party size.
“Only seven are allowed in our biggest [shed],” Ublay said, “but parties cannot merge tables.” This allows for each room to be shut off from other outdoor diners. Each shed has a table draped with a white table cloth, emulating the inside of the restaurant. But there are some differences with this outdoor dining experience.
“No kids indoors,” Ublay said, referencing their strict age requirement. Tamarind traditionally only allows children eight or older to dine at their restaurant. Now, they are allowing kids to eat outside but still prohibiting strollers and high-chairs in the sheds.
As 2021 began, the outdoor sheds were placed all around the outside of the restaurant. Each bungalow is equipped with a heater for the colder months and an electric fan for the warmer seasons.
Today, the white huts still stand firm outside of Tamarind, and according to Ublay, they will never leave.
“We won’t let that happen,” Ublay said. Because for him, the sheds are bringing in the revenue for the restaurant. Without them, Tamarind may have never recovered.
The Show Must Go On at Historic West Bank Cafe
Hours before the West Bank Cafe opens, sitting at an empty open booth in the corner is owner Steve Olsen. Mounted over him is a monochrome photograph of the late playwright Tennessee Williams, who used to be a regular at the restaurant and now has a table named after him, where Olsen sits. His sights are on an old friend tuning a grand piano displayed out front next to floor-length glass windows that allow customers to peek inside. Above, 1,000 colorful lights wrapped around scaffolding turn on, signifying the Cafe is open for business.
In between paying bills and fielding calls, Olsen tells the story of how his Theater District restaurant was days away from being shut down during the pandemic. Then, every so often, he stops to greet his employees filtering in with a fist bump.
Olsen, 64, first noticed the dark streets last March when surrounding theaters began shutting their doors, casualties of the swirling coronavirus. With just three streetlamps illuminating the roads, the district, shrouded by overgrown trees, was strikingly different from the busy, bright avenue he was used to. And like all the places surrounding him, Olsen soon began to feel the changes directly.
The restaurant lost its primary source of income. Theatergoers who would frequent the spot before or after their shows were no more. His staff of 53 members was reduced to 4. They barely survived on tips from food deliveries for months, while the restaurant owed $350,000 to creditors.
Four months later, when outdoor dining was permitted in June 2020, building such a space was not an option for Olsen, whose restaurant is directly opposite a designated bus lane.
The NYC Open Restaurants guidelines state that outdoor seating cannot be placed by bus lanes. So Olsen’s only option was to expand curbside seating to the area next to his restaurant, which is private property outside the adjoining Citibank.
Olsen’s requests to the bank for expansion were previously denied. But with in-door dining now restricted and the city’s mandate for restaurants to move outdoors, his landlord stepped in to negotiate on his behalf. The bank finally relented in August 2020. Olsen then added 24 brown cane chairs and 12 wooden tables, allowing for more outdoor room. “That was a big help,” he said. “People would slow down when they’re walking past and notice the food.”
As the seasons changed, so did Olsen’s growing demands in running the new outdoor setup. “A lot of people called wondering if we had heaters, and we didn’t,” Olsen said. The shortage of heat lamps last year made it impossible for him to provide heating at first. But when they later became available, Olsen opted not to buy them. The strong winter winds and sloped sidewalk had him concerned about fire safety. With no government assistance yet in effect as of December 2020, the beloved eatery was ready to shut permanently. But then, what Olsen calls a Christmas miracle came along.
Longtime customers and Broadway producers Tom and Michael D’Angora walked into the empty restaurant where they once had their rehearsal dinner. Determined to help Olsen keep their favorite spot open, they started a GoFundMe campaign last December with a goal to raise $250,000. The D’Angoras and other patrons also produced a 9-hour 50-minute telethon for the campaign, featuring over 200 artists. In 12 days, they raised more than $345,000.
“I was numb by it,” Olsen said, in tears, still overwhelmed by the support.
“We were worried that our favorite place might not survive,” said Bill Hayes, a customer of 30 years who performed for the telethon. Hayes has also been showing his support off-screen.
Last summer, when Olsen brought up the grand piano that was collecting dust in the downstairs theatre, Hayes stopped by. “I saw the piano and started playing it,” said Hayes, who is a regular member of 27 Broadway orchestras and has played with legends like Barbara Streisand and Liza Minnelli. Seeing customers enjoy Hayes’ performance through the open windows, Olsen asked him to come back on Friday nights to perform. Soon Hayes was joined by his friends to form a quartet band, the Jazz Bandits, the name being a play on face masks.
“Our initial instinct was to help the place stay afloat,” Hayes said. “But with everything shut down, we were thrilled to have a place to play.” The Jazz Bandits played for free, only taking home tips from fans who would come back to watch them perform.
This live music, combined with the intricately decorated scaffolding outside with artificial red and pink flowers, golden lemons, and roping vines, is a big attraction for customers.
Olsen opened the Cafe in 1978. Over its 43-year run, it’s become a place for artists to unwind, socialize and perform at the cabaret venue downstairs named the Laurie Beechman Theatre. It’s a safe space for them to experiment with new material, and some have gone on to become household names like Aaron Sorkin, who produced his first three plays here.
Today, the West Bank is able to keep its legacy going, with a brand-new look outdoors. The elaborate lighting setup hangs over customers as they enjoy their famous risotto balls and roast chicken.
With Broadway reopening last month, many theatergoers are flocking to the West Bank again, a hopeful sign for the restaurant. “We had huge amounts of people coming in last weekend from the theater,” said server and maître d’ Brennan Mawhinney.
Olsen’s employees are now up to 14 members, including many like Mawhinney, who was rehired.
“We’re survivors here in this city,” Olsen said. “We’re going to get through this one too.”
Barney Greengrass Survives the Pandemic With Two Huts
The décor was straight out of 1950. Each vintage table was set with the traditional diner set-up of a fork, knife and spoon, along with a large sugar jar for the bottomless cup of black coffee so hot the steam billows. The location, though, was like nothing from the 50s or any of the other 14 decades this storied restaurant has seen. The forest green hut with the plexiglass windows that sit outside of Barney Greengrass on Amsterdam Ave, and 86th St, is very much a sign of recent pandemic times.
Founded in 1908, “The Sturgeon King,” has been in its current location since 1929 and has remained in the Greengrass family to this day. That kind of longevity inspires loyalty, and customers from around the country kept the business solvent in the early days of the pandemic.
For months, that meant shipping and takeout.
“I came to the store to pick up nova and sturgeon, and bagels to make at home,” writer Jack Dickey, who lives just a block away, said of those early days. “Probably once a week, which was a little indulgent. But you know, what else was there to indulge in?”
He was sitting in the green hut during a Wednesday lunch rush, enjoying his scrambled eggs with lox and onions. This was the second version of the structure, after the first, a simple tent, blew down in a windstorm. This one has electricity running from the restaurant, according to Gary Greengrass, the current owner and grandson of founder Barney Greengrass, during the few minutes he had for an interview while fielding phone orders. And this is “more structured like a house, as opposed to just having a tent up there,” he said.
Also sitting in the new house-like structure is retiree Lou Craft, who traveled here from across the country to enjoy egg salad on a toasted plain bagel. For Craft, the new outdoor structures that are around are vital to keeping New York as the city of restaurants and meet-ups.
“They just went for shelter,” Craft said about the hut. “I like that it’s a little more open than some of the other places, and they did a great job on distancing.”
The openness has also added another element not seen in the old days. “The pigeons seem to be making their home in here [the hut],” said famed New York ghostwriter, Dale Burg with a laugh as a flock of birds, flew in and congregated in the middle of the space.
While the majority of customers ignored the sounds of tiny beaks hitting the wooden floor in an attempt to scrounge up leftover everything bagel crumbs, one man had had enough. He stood up and kicked the pigeons out of the shelter, muttering expletives before returning to his pastrami sandwich.
Dickey looked up at his neighbors’ performance and laughed. “The food is still the food,” he said. “But there are pigeons. I mean not that it was glamorous in there, but it’s not so glamourous out here.”
As the weather gets colder for both the outdoor patrons and the pigeons, Greengrass is unsure if the structure will remain open this winter based on unclear City regulations. Ideally, Greengrass would like to enclose the structure in the winter and check customers’ COVID-19 vaccine cards upon entry, differing from the over one hundred winters the restaurant has endured since.
“We invested heavily into it,” Greengrass said. “It’s made very well, and you know, as long as they allow us to keep it up, it will endure.”
Regardless of the City regulations, Burg agrees with Greengrass and hopes the restaurant structures outside in New York City and Barney Greengrass’ will remain for years to come.
“I think New Yorkers are tribal,” Burg said, pointing around to her fellow tables of loyal customers. “They like to gather. That’s why you live here.”
Learn more about the project here | Read Part 1 and Part 3
