Photo courtesy of Alex Russell via Instagram.
Aug. 7, 2017 By Nathaly Pesantez
Brooklyn Label, the Greenpoint restaurant located at 180 Franklin Street that closed last year, will reopen next month under new ownership, this time reimagined as an American restaurant with hints of the French cuisine it served prior to closing.
The corner restaurant, located in the landmark Astral Building built in the mid 19th century, will focus on foods inspired by the southern and New England cultural blocks of the U.S., bringing a menu of items like roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, New-England pot roast, hush puppies, and chili-inspired foods. American classics, like club sandwiches and salads, will also be served.
The announcement for the new Brooklyn Label restaurant came in an Instagram post by Alex Russell, a first-time restaurateur, who revealed that he partnered with Robert Arbor, the owner of the nearby French restaurant Le Gamin, for the project. Russell had previously worked as a manager for Le Gamin.
“The Brooklyn Label was sitting idle for six months with everyone looking through the window,” Russell, 33, said. “We knew it was such a gem, so it was the right time—it just made sense.”
Although the restaurant is under new ownership and with a different focus in cuisine, Russell and Arbor were intent on keeping the same look and feel of the restaurant. Minor cosmetic changes have been applied, as the restaurant’s prior colors felt a bit dark to them.
The restaurant will accommodate for 58, with 15 seats at the bar and 12 seats in a café outside.
“It’s always a nice thing to continue to be part of a continuation—a legacy of sorts,” Arbor, 53, said. “We already have a restaurant in the neighborhood, and everyone is very excited that Alex and I are taking over the space. They know we’ll go back to what they like it to be.”
The starting price for an item on the menu is $5.00, with dishes not to exceed $30.00, Arbor said.
The duo expect the restaurant to open in September.
The Brooklyn Label, which opened in 2007 as a mainly French café and brunch site , closed last year, with a Facebook post by the former manager on the restaurant page revealing that the Brooklyn Label had been sold.
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