Hard to believe it’s been a year since Colonie opened at 127 Atlantic Avenue. The eatery’s owners Tamer Hamawi, Emelie Kihlstrom, and Elise Rosenberg raised initial funds (and attention) via Kickstarter in late 2010. Kihlstrom lives in Brooklyn Heights today.
Eater NY ran a Q&A with the trio this week and asked them about the game changing review given to them only a few months after opening by Brooklyn Heights native/NYT food critic Sam Sifton:
Eater NY: You got a big review from Sam Sifton just a few months after opening. Did you know that was coming? Emelie: No, we were shitting our pants. We did spot him, but not every time. Tamer: I think that through the Kickstarter campaign, we were very much on the radar and it became a big story. Florence Fabricant was chasing us in the early stages for the opening article, and we were quite surprised by how aggressive she was, in a good way. So we knew that we were very much on the radar, and that we could possibly get reviewed, but it was still a surprise to get reviewed so early on. But we’re so thankful that we were. It was incredible to get a Times review, and we started getting bookings from as far away as Beirut from that review.
