The PR blitz is on as the new owners of Gage and Tollner prepare for its re-opening on March 15. Stories have appeared in the Times and on NY1, both emphasizing nostalgia and innovation, as the 1879 restaurant re-creates itself for a 2020 clientele.
The new G&T is brought to you by the owners of Red Hook’s Fort Defiance and Gowanus’ Insa, who recognize that stalwarts of the restaurant’s previous incarnations will come with high expectations, but the proprietors also acknowledge that the dining scene, especially in Brooklyn and downtown, is not what it was when the restaurant closed in 2004.
“Right now, we’re getting a lot of feedback from the Gage & Tollner superfans,” Mr. Frizell said. “But really that’s going to be less than 5 percent of our audience, so we’re going to have to play to a bigger crowd.”
The past will be present in the landmarked interior: the wooden revolving door, the chandeliers, the portico. According to the Times, the renovation has cost $2 million.
The menu will include old standbys like she-crab soup ($19), Parker House rolls ($8), and shrimp scampi ($32); they will be joined by cauliflower steak ($28), fermented kale slaw ($9), and clams Kimsino ($19), items unrecognizable to the old steak-and-martini crowd.
Speaking of martinis: the cocktails on the opening meny are nearly from the original Gage and Toller cocktail list.
The restaurant’s new website is up and running. Gage and Tollner is located at 372 Fulton Street and can be reached by calling 347-689-3677. (It does seem rather a shame that the place has one of those new non-NYC area codes.)
Please read the original story in the Times for more details and to support the reporters and publications who are out there doing the work. And do check out the comments section, where you’ll see our own TK Small checking in.
Photo: Steven J via Wikimedia Commons, used with permission.
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