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Greenpoint Japanese shopping, dining, and cultural development, 50 Norman is growing again: it will expand into a neighboring space, where it’ll add home appliance shop Balmuda and kitchenware shop Kama-asa. In June, a new French Japanese wine bar and cafe, Cafe O’te by House Brooklyn, will also open at the property (50 Norman Avenue, between Dobbin and Guernsey streets). Yuji Tani, who also operates the Japanese-French restaurant House Brooklyn, will also oversee the bar menu.
50 Norman’s existing businesses include broth shop Dashi Okume and design shop Cibone (which will also expand its footprint). The complex opened in 2022 and has become a hub in the neighborhood, brimming with Japanese restaurants, tea shops, markets, and stores.
Caribbean restaurant switches chef for the first time
East Village Caribbean restaurant Miss Lily’s 7A is shaking things up by adding a new chef for the first time since it opened in 2014. New culinary director Brittney “Stikxz” Williams had been a private chef from Queens and worked at restaurants such as Jungsik and Eleven Madison Park.
Williams’s new menu includes dishes like pork chops rubbed in Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, Haitian djon djon mushroom risotto, salmon with Scotch bonnet pepper buerre blanc, and ackee cheesecake; plus, updates on classics such as jerk chicken and oxtail stew. She’s even sourcing Jamaican ingredients such as callaloo from her family farm in Queens.
Miss Lily’s 7A opening chef de cuisine-turned-culinary director Andre Fowles is still part of the team — he’s overseeing the group’s location in Negril, Jamaica.
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A Prospect Heights bar is shuttering
A Brooklyn cocktail bar popular for dates is closing this month after over five years. Bar Meridian will have its last day at 406 Prospect Place, at Grand Avenue, in Prospect Heights on Wednesday, April 30. Owner Sage Geyer and business partner Asa Johnson announced the shutter on Instagram. “We can’t tell you how proud we are of this little corner bar and the memories this community has created within its walls,” they wrote. “We truly achieved our goal of creating a home for all of us in this neighborhood.” Meridian opened in 2019, with cocktails, wines, beers, bar snacks, and music. Expect lots of parties and events through the end of the month.
