Vegetarian Palate moving to Washington Ave.

Press catches up: http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/36/13/dtg_goeastoldrestaurant_2013_03_08_bk.html

Bklyn Paper wrote: (Vegetarian Palate) will end its 11-year stay on Flatbush Avenue to move to Washington Avenue in early summer as the landlord converts the old building into condos. “It has to do with the Barclays Center. Since it opened, it has affected our dining and business.”

Wong says his brisk takeout business suffered as arena-goers started parking on the block during events and parking enforcement officers increased their vigilance — with no real uptick in orders from stadium attendees.

So he chose to make the move four blocks east to a storefront near Dean Street that’s bigger and almost half as expensive.

But still no exact storefront.

Nope. ...but they are currently located near each other. And neither has steak.

That could work. That storefront's been vacant forever and recently got "for rent" signs. Not too many other options on Washington near Dean.

The former "Noah's Juices" - open for about five minutes last year - is really tiny. Too small for a restaurant. There's a storefront next to Atlantic Co, between Dean and Pacific.

Here's the retail space 'elephant in the room' on the north end of 'the Washington strip' though: the ground floor of 930 Washington, the huge yellow-brick new build that sits at the northwest corner of Washington and Dean.

The majority of the ground floor space appears to have been built as a partly-below-grade retail or restaurant space. Windows are tastefully shaded and there's never been a "for rent" sign. Looks like they store equipment down there - but would be a class-A store someday when the market is right (hopefully soon!).

Anyone know the story on that space?

My sources are usually good.

Re: the building on the NW corner of Dean and Washington. It has two addresses, 630 Washington and 35 Underhill.

Prior to being given permission by DOB to open, the building was the site of a long, drawn out battle between DOB and the developer Scarano. The crux of the matter was that DOB believed the building's FAR (defined below)was too large as per the zoning and the lot's size, and Scarano disagreed.

This resulted in Scarano pulling this stunt:

http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2006/11/coverup-at-the/

(make sure to read the comments)

Which resulted in the DOB becoming furious.

This all happended in 2006, it would not surprise me if the DOB was able to have the first floor of the building effectively removed from commercial use.

Do. Not. Mess. With. DOB.

Floor Area Ratio (FAR)*

The floor area ratio is the principal bulk regulation controlling the size of buildings. FAR is the ratio of total building floor area to the area of its zoning lot. Each zoning district has an FAR which, when multiplied by the lot area of the zoning lot, produces the maximum amount of floor area allowable on that zoning lot. For example, on a 10,000 square foot zoning lot in a district with a maximum FAR of 1.0, the floor area on the zoning lot cannot exceed 10,000 square feet.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/glossary.shtml

If your speculation is correct, that's a damn shame for a retail strip that's short on large, modern storefronts.

Washington is moving along at a nice, steady clip....

whynot_31 said:

http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2006/11/coverup-at-the/

(make sure to read the comments)

Ah, back when the Brownstoner comment section was like the wild west.

Anyone else remember the NY Mag article about Scarano? The mezzanines and the secret bathrooms?

Are the residential units in 630 Washington occupied?

whynot_31 said:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/793075-condo-630-washington-prospect-heights-brooklyn

Wow, that rented for $3,700/mo! I'm not sure whether to be impressed or scared. If you neeeeeeeeeed new construction in this neighborhood, that unit at least looks decent (though, yes, looks can be deceiving.)

Monday evening, July 1st: Vegetarian Palate is open.

The photos above indicate it is located at 685 Washington Ave.

Thanks. So, has anyone been yet?

I ordered delivery over the weekend (was not leaving the comforts of my AC to walk the couple of blocks over to get). I got the mango chicken and the nuggets. I guess it was pretty good, but I always kinda wish for actual chicken when I get the fake chicken. Anyone have suggestions for good (and relatively healthy) things to order from here?

Their wonton soup is really really good. I'm a big fan of the Peking duck, too, though it is totally its own thing (not at all like real duck)

Ms. Whynot and I ate there last night.

Food was yummy and the dining area was comfortably air conditioned....

Based on the delivery and eat in business we witnessed, they seemed to have made the transition from Flatbush Ave while maintaining a significant % of their customer base.