Two 2001 graduates from Brooklyn Heights’ Packer Collegiate Institute are staying true to the borough by opening a restaurant in nearby Fort Greene. Pals Alan Cooper and Stephen Cohen plan to launch Prospect Restaurant at 773 Fulton Street in July, in the space of recently closed Mediterranean Aqualis Grill.
The pair was interviewed April 5 in the New York Times blog “The Local,” after the American eatery’s license was approved by the Community Board 2 Health Committee. The spot will offer 53 seats and a full bar, serving dinner seven days a week and brunch on weekends.
The co-owners told the Times that their venture—the first restaurant for each of them—will offer fresh, seasonal ingredients. “We’ll have a serious menu, but you won’t look at the plate and not know what’s on it,” said Cooper (on left in photo). The pair added that they chose the location because of their ties to the community: “I live in Fort Greene now and knew this was a great, accessible location. I wanted to be in the kind of brownstone community that I grew up in,” said Cooper, who was raised in Cobble Hill.
The Prospect Restaurant at 773 Fulton Street, is between South Portland Avenue and South Oxford Street.
(Photo: Linda Villarosa for The New York Times)
