Saje Opens at Last, and with Gorilla Coffee no less!

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

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

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!

Subject: Thumbs up for Saje

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.

Do they serve alcohol yet, Cap'n?

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...

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.

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

I did last night! I love this place. Can't wait to try out the food (although being a broke college student I'm not big on eating out, so it might take me a little while). But It was a really great place witha nice vibe, friendly atmosphere - didn't meet the owner Paul, but met a guy names Shakespeare who seemed to be in charge and he was very nice -- told me about some live Jazz they are having this thursday at 7:30pm. BYOB. anyone going?

also, the coffee was delicious! guess that's gorrilla coffee? never had it before

oh & for the wifi queries, they definitely have it - my laptop picked up Saje's wifi, but truthfully someone else's linksys had a much stronger connection. But there were some 4 or 5 i picked up total.

Captain Salty wrote: 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!

Woo Hoo indeed!!! We are on a roll, Franklin Ave! Saje, Sushi as of tomorrow, Indigo (to come) and now this. I am giddy.

Any idea what type of food and when it will be opened? I wonder if it's the store front I noticed with work being done on Franklin between St. Marks and Prospect Place--has a nice tin ceiling and brown paper covering the windows....

Anyone know if they sell coffee by the pound?

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.

breatheeasy wrote: [quote=heidikins]
Woo Hoo indeed!!! We are on a roll, Franklin Ave! Saje, Sushi as of tomorrow, Indigo (to come) and now this. I am giddy.

Any idea what type of food and when it will be opened? I wonder if it's the store front I noticed with work being done on Franklin between St. Marks and Prospect Place--has a nice tin ceiling and brown paper covering the windows....

yay -- a place bt st marks & prospect on franklin would be great -- so close to me
what is indigo? and wheres the sushi?
haha i usually drive everywhere, heading towards the opposite direction for everything i need and i am glad there are things opening up in the hood that i can walk to !

p.s., speaking of, i usually drive to pathmark to do my food shopping... i know there are some people on the board real close to me, bergen & classon -- what's the nearest grocery store? best walkable one? thanks

Indigo is a bar that was on Vanderbilt & Dean, but is supposed to be moving to Franklin & Dean. In the midst of the move on Vanderbilt, the landlord shot and killed a man who was helpling Indigo's owner move. There's a whole thread on this on the Prospect Heights Forum--really tres bizzare. So, given that, I hope that the move is still on--it was mentioned in the Daily News (which is also quoted in the tread, I believe).

The Sushi is on Franklin & Dean--Sushi Tatsu II (see the thread/reviews on this forum)--we've eaten from there take-out) twice and it's been good.

Food shopping is a pain. there's a Key Food on Fulton b/w Franklin & Bedford and another on Nostrand & St. Marks (and a huge one you can park at on 5th & Sterling). I usually go to the Met Food on Vanderbilt/Park. Sadly, Fresh Direct does not deliver to my zip code, 11216, even though I am only a few houses down from the border (Franklin)--I see the trucks drive down Dean and take a right on Franklin, and I stew about it. They need to deliver to 11216--there are lots of us who would use them. There is a thread on this forum about Fresh Direct to 11216.

Speaking of grocery stores, about 2 1/2 years ago, there was an article in the Habitats section of The New York Times featuring our area of Crown Heights, Crow Hill. It spoke of the renovations at the Jewish Hospital and the plans for a grocery store there. It didn't seem to happen--anyone know anything about this?

There's a massive new high rise on St. Marks between Franklin & Classon that seems to be empty (anyone know what this is--rentals, condos, what?). There seems to be commercial space on the ground floor, so maybe a grocery store?

In the same NYT article, it mentioned the sale and planned renovations of a group of buildings on the corner of Dean, Franklin & Bergen (the old Monte's space--used to be a Brewery way back when, and adjacent buildings. The new owner, a non-profit, got them converted to residential zoning). It was supposed to be converted into artist lofts. I was very excited about that, but it was supposed to be done by 2005 and now I see for sale signs on them, so I guess it fell through. Anyone know the scoop?

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'

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.