[Capt. Planet]

At last this much delayed arrival has occured. Saje's, at the corner of Park Place and Franklin, was open over the weekend. It's menu features "Asian fusion" dining.

And much to my great pleasure, they are selling Gorilla Coffee. I'd been spending hours a week driving over to Park Place and Fifth Avenue to get this delicious, Fair Trade coffee. Now it's available right in the 'hood.

Can't beat that combination.

[Hal]

We passed it yesterday on our stroll to Prospect Park. Looks nice.

[ana.log]

[neene]

had lunch there today
great coffee & a very nice pannini

right now they have a bit of a limited menu; bagels, croissants for breakfast & pannini's (1 is veggie)
but they are going to try for brunch this weekend (sat & sun)
:)

talked to the owner a bit, they are waiting for their liquor license but are going to start building up their menu in the meantime.
he (paul) seems pretty into food, wants to work in some organic stuff and have monthly"tastings" which he says really brings the neighborhood together

sounds good to me
_________________
the further you go out on a limb, the harder it is to keep your balance
balance is overrated

[kenieva]

we went there today too for a cup of coffe and a smottie, it looks very nice. and yes Paul, the owner, seems very nice and friendly too. He has been living in CH for 21 years...i am glad that somebody from the neighborhood is opening up a bussiness.

He said that he has been getting a lot of support from the CH crowd (which i witnessed a couple of times while we were there). I don't drink coffe, but the smoothie was good!

Thumbs up!

[Captain Salty]

seeing as how i live *directly* across the street, i think i'll be in here just about everyday. great prices too. i'm hopefully going to be helping paul and aaqil get there draft system and hopefully they'll let me put my beer on tap!

very nice guys, hope they do well, i really think saje is going to do great!
_________________
Drink good beer.

[Mongrel600]

Yes, Paul is awesome and the place is incredible. Excellent prices, awesome couche and ambiance, and pretty soon Outdoor space!!
The Gorilla coffee sign made my heart melt with joy. I plan on living at this place.
Can't wait to try the food!

[margie]

I stopped by Saje this weekend. I had friends in town and it was so nice to be able to get up and grab some great coffee and croissants on Sunday morning without hiking down to Vanderbilt.

Paul seems like a great guy and there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm in the neighborhood from what I saw. I hope his business is a success.

He offered dinner on Friday and Saturday nights and he said the place was quite busy -- great sign!

Now for that liquor license -- having a nice place to get a drink in the neighborhood would be a HUGE leap forward.

[Captain Salty]

just as i predicted, i'm in this place every single day, sometimes two or three times!

great stuff, great prices, great people!
_________________
Drink good beer.

[margie]

Do they serve alcohol yet, Cap'n?

[Capt. Planet]

[bojolais]

Went by this afternoon.. THRILLED to have a yummy coffee shop within walking distance... It has a really nice vibe. Haven't tried brunch yet but plan on checking out the evenings which are BYOB until they get a liquor license...

[anniewilde]

Do they have wifi? I'd heard that they were going to--I've been way too busy with the end of the semester to check it out, but I'm curious--in general, that corner of the Franklin strip looks like it's more developed that where I live, closer to Eastern Parkway...Any theories about that?
_________________
Folle dont je suis affolée,
Je te hais autant que je t'aime!

[margie]

It has some of the cleaner delis nearby, but not what I would call developed. Like a lot of Franklin, there are a ton of beauty shops around. When I saw people there last weekend, they were on their laptops but I can't confirm that Saje has WiFi. Definitely come down and check it out. The food and coffee is great.

[neene]

wow, i think of your end as being more developed,
i shop at both mazon & fischer

not sure if the wifi is in, here's their #: 646-393-5897

and it really has a great vibe in addition to the food/coffee
_________________
the further you go out on a limb, the harder it is to keep your balance
balance is overrated

[breatheeasy]

hey -- is this a good place to sit with just a cup of coffee and study for a couple hours, or more of a resturant place?
i'd love to finally have a walkable place to go to with my laptop rather than taking my car over to park slope!
thanks : )

[margie]

It's a great place to sit with a cup of coffee and study. You should check it out.

[breatheeasy]

[Captain Salty]

i have a hard time understanding shakespeare; the man has a very thick accent. very nice guy though. talking to paul this morning, he told me he's opening a restaurant a block or two down the road, he said it's a huge space, about 5 times the size of Saje, with a backyard!

woo hoo way to go franklin ave!
_________________
Drink good beer.

[heidikins]

[alafairnadia]

I'm very psyched about all of this. Franklin is basically as close or closer to me than Vandy and I love the idea of giving my biz to an area that needs it and is right next door. I really have to check out Saje and I can't WAIT for Indigo
_________________
like a smoked meat with an earthy youth overnote

[bojolais]

Anyone know if they sell coffee by the pound?

[breatheeasy]

[cheech]

there's a key foods on wash and e.parkway which is pretty good, really nice people and they deliver is necessary. i'll do that or fresh direct.

[apollonia666]

[heidikins]

[bojolais]

heidikins, check brownstoner.com. They monitor the real estate market more closely.

[neene]

as far as i know, a supermarket is actually slated for the ground floor space in the building (converted hospital) across the street on st. marks but no word yet on who it will be.

but since we are on the topic (off topic) and all want to support local businesses, try fischer supermarket on the corner of Lincoln Place and Franklin. they are nicely stocked for a smaller store, very clean, very friendly and it's very important to keep them here!!!

and back on topic: had another great cup o' joe & a bagel at saje this morning and the joint was hoppin'
_________________
the further you go out on a limb, the harder it is to keep your balance
balance is overrated

[Captain Salty]

you think fischer is clean and well-stocked?

that is just about the most disgusting grocery store i've ever been in. went in once, saw green meat on rusty shelves, and i have not been back in since.
_________________
Drink good beer.

[Hal]

We finally got to Saje last night on our way home. Comfortable, warmly decorated and laid back. We took advantage of the BYOB policy and ran out to bring back a bottle of red wine. We ordered the tilapia and the jerked eel entrees. The plates were beautifully presented and the food was quite delicious. We were introduced to the chef, Paul, who is from St. Lucia, and a really nice guy. A reggae band was setting up, so after finishing our dinner we stayed for the first number. The band is called Censor City Band and is led by a guy who calls himself Bravo. We finished the evening with a stroll home on Park Place. We had a nice time, enjoyed good food and music, and decided we'll be back.

Tonight I think we'll have a look at Secrets.

[breatheeasy]

yeah i didn't mean to drag everyone off topic, but thanks for the replies! I drive to pathmark for everything, i think it's great, but i was wondering what the nearest was if i need to just run out and get olive oil or garlic or some staple that's silly to get in the car for. i guess fichers or the keyfood on fulton would be my best bets -- thanks!!

back on topic: saje is doing a whole bunch of stuff w/ live jazz one night, reggae another, soul/R&B another...sorry i forget the details, but i know it's a whole bunch of good stuff and they are still improving, so go check it out!

[kenieva]

i have to say that although i love Saje and i hope it does very well, i hate to report that the service there is for the most part...poor (unless Paul or Peter are there). We had dinner there a copule of nights ago (for the second time) The food was yummy, but the waiter forgot my order, considering that there were only 3 tables with people, it's quite lame. On top of that he didn't know the [short] menu, got mixed up.
I went again this morning to order a bagel and a shake. The poor girl behind the bar had no clue what she was doing. All in a sudden she had 4 customers to take care of and she blew it. She was very slooooow, it took her a good 5 minutes to put two croissants in bags (!!!) I had to order my shake three times (why didn't she write down it's beyond me).
As i said i love the place and hope it does well, but sometimes i wonder if it doesn't do better because of its inadequate service.
I don't know Paul enough to feel comfortable telling him (i was tempted to do so today, but was too shy about it). I wonder what other people's feelings are on this issue, and maybe somebody who knows Paul can tell him... just a thought.
i plan on keep on going to Saje regardless of the service, but i whish it would improve.

[cheech]

does anyone have saje's number or hours? or for that matter anywhere that i can get a smoothie? i just got my wisdom teeth pulled and am craving one

[LittleRedMenace]

I just returned from a nice leisurely breakfast at my first visit to Saje's. I'm from San Francisco and it really reminded me of a lot of the chill coffee hangouts there. I had the french toast which was absolutely delicious and came with a nice array of fresh fruit on the side.

I even treated myself to the Gorilla coffee. I've cut down severely on my coffee consumption, which isn't hard in this town as most of the coffee here is crap.

[ilovegoodfood!]

I had heard alot of good things about SAJE and Paul is a good friend so i decided to take my girlfriends and boy did we have a good time... The food was excellent and so was the company!!!

I live in Manhattan but the trip is worth the while and my friends loved it. We will def be visiting SAJE more often!

[CLAYFILMS]

well..i'm eating and sipping a yummy cup of tea at saje right now and i have no complaints.

[kenieva]

i have mixed feelings about Saje. On one hand i love the place (heck it's around the corner from my house!!!) and the "real" food is pretty good (the pastries can be on the stale side sometimes). On the other, their service leaves a lot to be desires. I am there mostly during the day, so i don't know about the evening, but it feels like there is new waitstaff every few months, they are terribly slow and don't know what they are doing. Plus Peter, the only person who seemed to know what he was doing left (was fired/quit...i don't know, he was gone when i came back from vacation and when i asked about him nobody knew whom i was talking about....crazy).
I really want them to do well, but they really need to get it more together.

[margie]

I agree. I've experienced that many times. I ordered a simple sandwich to take out the last time I was in there. It wasn't busy at all but it took 40 minutes to get it. When I was leaving, the girl at the counter gave me their card and said that I really should call ahead next time. Is it that complicated? Kind of turned me off. I really want to see it succeed but I could walk to Vanderbilt and back by the time the food is ready.

[CLAYFILMS]

patience..patience...it always takes new spots a minute to find good waitstaff..but once they do..you're good...

look at spots like solomons porch in bed-stuy...the service used to be an ABOMINATION, but now it's cool.

i had dinner at saje last night and i felt like they had snuck my people's hatian grandma in that kitchen! food was great! and the service was good...and you really can't beat a BYOB spot with no cork fee.

[Ben]

[CLAYFILMS]

sometimes it takes a year...

[mr. met]

i went to saje for the first time over the weekend. the service was kind of slow, but the food was good. pleasant atmosphere and friendly employees. i do think it tries a little too hard to be that hip little indie coffee shop, though -- all the old furniture is a bit much. it reminds of the back room at soda.

[The Coolest Kid]

Went for New Years...

Didn't pay the $50 for the food, which was good because half the stuff on the menu wasn't available anyways.

Staff was poorly managed and stressed out.

Limited food choices were OK, but it would have been nice to have what I wanted. If I wanted to eat something w/o having a choice I could have went home to my mom's, for free, with loving care and attn.

The vibe was OK. A little too, 'Bud Light Subway Ad' for me though.

I want to give them another chance, esp. since I live right down the block... but I think I will continue to truck it to Vandy for my late night shenanigans

[Bed Stuy-Bolivian]

The last time I went there the staff didn't even seem into it at all. I guess that's what happens when you try to bring Bourgeoise to a Ghetto. Seriously, the food is over priced and the staff seemed over worked and it can't help them with the owner always yelling at them and working against them. They bring good music but Saje is so tired and the owners need to give it a rest.

[Bed Stuy-Bolivian]