By Simone Sebastian
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HARLEM — Two Harlem entrepreneurs, convinced that there's an appetite for more diversified dining in the area, are opening a restaurant-delivery service that they hope will provide food lovers with a cornucopia of meals on demand.
"You can go all over New York and get anything everywhere, except here," said Michael Leopold, a co-owner who moved to a new condo building off of 145th Street three years ago. "We're trying to provide the same variety that the rest of New York has."
Leopold has teamed up with friend and neighbor Steve Friedson to create the new service, Harlem Delivers, that is set to launch in July. The duo is targeting their neighbors — largely middle-class families recently moved from the Upper West Side and similarly restaurant-rich neighborhoods — with a delivery service that transports warm, fully prepared meals from their old favorites for a fee.
Currently, Harlem Delivers has contracted with seven restaurants to provide the delivery service to a five-block area of Harlem.
The service will initially deliver to homes between 145th and 150th streets between Frederick Douglas Boulevard and Edgecombe. Restaurants serving Mediterranean, vegetarian, Indian and other fares have signed on: Gabriela's Restaurant and Tequila Bar, Earthen Oven, Cafe Blossom, Fusha West, Bodrum, Sol YSombra and Society Coffee.
Leopold and Friedson say if their plan works, they'll expand to dozens of restaurants and cover the entire Harlem neighborhood.
"It will become from 110th to 180th and from river to river. That's our goal," said Friedson, 51.
Friedson moved to Harlem from the West Village five years ago. He's amassed a collection of cookbooks to make up for the twice-a-week dining-out he used to enjoy.
"You can eat your way through New York and never get done," he said. "I miss the diversity."
Harlem Delivers will employ three independent deliverers, who will transport orders by car in heated boxes.
Nat Milner, a managing partner at Gabriela's Restaurant and Tequila Bar, said signing on to Harlem Delivers was a good business decision.
"It's a really great opportunity to get our exposure up there," Milner said. "We can't do it ourselves because of the cars and the distance. ... It's a whole new market."
