Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Brunch Serving Flatiron Catering Business Offers Dinner For First Time

FLATIRON — What started off as a small catering business gradually grew into a full-blown restaurant, serving dinner for the very first time on Wednesday, said the owner of Tbsp.

Tbsp, a modern American restaurant located at 17 W. 20th St., had only served breakfast, lunch and brunch until now, but began serving dinner for the first time on Wednesday night.

“We had such success with brunch that we thought dinner would round it out, and make more sense,” said Melissa Chmelar, who owns Tbsp with her husband.

Spoon, the original name of the business, launched as a small catering business that mostly served breakfast and lunch to photo shoot crews, Chmelar said.

When she saw that business was doing well, she opened the kitchen to take-out service in 2004.

Four years later, she expanded into a space next door, began offering sit-down service for brunch, and called this restaurant portion Tbsp.

For dinner, Tbsp will offer its usual farm-to-table, American cuisine, including dishes like half roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes and grilled hangar steak with polenta.

Entrée prices range from $14 to $20, and the dinner menu includes a kids portion and new cocktail menu.

“We really want to hit the families in the area, all of our local people who’d go to our Wednesday or Thursday night dinner,” said Chmelar. "It's homey food."

The biggest change to the physical restaurant is the new bar, said Chmelar. To accommodate the dinner crowd, Tbsp replaces the take-out counter every night with a bar, she noted.

“We have to totally transition the space from lunch to brunch, like a stage set,” said Chmelar.

For more information, and a full dinner menu visit www.spoonnyc.com