QUEENS — Danny Brown Wine Bar and Kitchen, which until last year had been the only eatery in Queens to receive a coveted star in the Michelin Guide, is closing its Forest Hills location.
The owners said Tuesday they were not able to renew their lease at 104-02 Metropolitan Ave., where the restaurant has stood for nearly 10 years.
“We didn’t want to leave, we did everything we could to stay," Danny Brown said. "But we weren’t able to come to an agreement and we were told that it [the lease] would not be renewed as a result of that.”
The restaurant’s last day will be Dec. 31.
Earlier this year, the owners said they were planning to open another location in Long Island City, but Brown said that project faces obstacles as well.
“It’s been a very difficult year with landlords,” Brown said, adding that the location they were eyeing in Long Island City probably won't work out and they are currently looking for a different spot in that same neighborhood.
He said Forest Hills could also be an option, if a better opportunity arose.
“This is our home, this is where we got started,” he said. “We’ve done so much work here in Forest Hills, if there is a good opportunity to stay here — sure, absolutely."
Brown said that in the remaining three months at the Metropolitan Avenue location he is planning to change both the decor and the menu.
Currently, the eatery serves an eclectic mix of Spanish and French cuisines. But Brown said the restaurant will close for a couple of days by the end of September to reopen with a new smaller menu serving contemporary French cuisine. The menu will change every month until its closing, he said.
Brown also said that the restaurant, once it finds its new home, will also serve contemporary French food, rather than what's currently on the menu.
