Posted on 04/19/2014 4:54:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Belgian beer and waffle-wrapped burgers are on the way to a new Hell's Kitchen bar.
The Jolly Monk, a Belgian craft beer spot, is opening this summer at 701 Ninth Ave., the space that was formerly home to the controversial bar Traffic.
Hell's Kitchen Hospitality — which owns House of Brews, the New York Beer Company and Oliver's Astoria — envisions the new 74-person bar as a bastion for all things Belgian, from beer to snacks like freshly made waffles.
"It's going to be a relaxed atmosphere," said co-owner Patrick Schmidt, who lives in Hell's Kitchen. "We're going to be a fun little bar."
The Jolly Monk will offer a large variety of Belgian ales, as well as American-made, Belgian-style brews like Allagash Brewing Company's Belgian White.
Schmidt also plans to buy two heavy-duty Belgian waffle makers, in the hopes of serving fluffy weekly specials. The bar will also serve a Belgian Waffle Burger — with waffles instead of buns.
On top of those indulgent items, The Jolly Monk will offer Belgian classics, like mussels and fries, and a selection of pub grub.
Schmidt said the new space would be the opposite of Traffic, which drew years of complaints from locals about loud parties, rude staff and music blasting down the street. The bar was shuttered by city marshals in January after its landlord stopped paying rent, records show.
"The place we're going to run is 180 degrees from what Traffic did," Schmidt said. "Hell's Kitchen isn't just somewhere where we make money — it's our home and we don't want to have bad relations with our neighbors."
Schmidt is planning a complete overhaul of the space and will get rid of Traffic's large garage doors, which were left open in the summer and allowed music blasting from speakers to easily be heard down the street.
The formerly metal-and-glass space will become a cozy spot made out of mahogany and red brick — all of which, Schmidt said, would absorb sound.
The Jolly Monk is set to open in the former home of controversial bar Traffic. The Jolly Monk is set to open in the former home of controversial bar Traffic. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Mathew Katz "We never play loud music," he said. "Our target clientele, they see a $10 Belgian beer on the menu and don't even blink their eye. They're not looking for $3 shots."
The Jolly Monk won advisory approval for its liquor license from Community Board 4's Business Licenses and Permits Committee earlier this month, and the full board will weigh in in early May.
Schmidt and the other co-owners hope to have the spot up and running by early summer.
Sounds like a great place to hang out next time I’m in New York.
I used to lunch at a great tiny Belgian place downtown just about 10 years ago. Small menu, but authentic. Only a few seats, could get wine. I haven’t been in the city in a long time, no idea what’s going on nowadays.
There used to be a place in down town Houston that was
called Someburger. They sold hamburgers fries and soft drinks.
The dinning area was out side on picnic tables. The food
was served in unmarked brown paper bags and the cups were
styrofoam with red striped straws and opaque lids.
You could phone in orders.
Sounds good, as long as there isn’t the situation where one half of the bar staff are not on speaking terms with the other half.
If it’s the place I’m thinking of, the food is good. I went there for lunch when I was on jury duty two or three years ago.
I seem to recall as you walk in, a counter on the right, food was prepared right there behind the counter.
Ok, Petite Abeille, next to Hudson Diner on... Hudson.
They moved.
They now have 3 locations.
http://petiteabeille.com/locations/
The “little bee”.
You can still see the old storefront (barely) in google streetview.
Could have been the one at 134 West Broadway? It was right across the avenue from the civil court. It did have a counter on the right and tables on the left.
There used to be very good Belgian fries in the Times Square area. Lots of sauces to choose from. But they went away. Maybe the locals got tired of it and the tourists were afraid to try it. I was sorry to see it go. Fries came in a paper cone.
No, the one I went to was at 466 Hudson.
That location is closed now from what the internet says.
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