GOWANUS — Three Crown Heights entrepreneurs are taking over a Turkish cafe on Seventh Street and turning it into a kosher restaurant, bar and lounge.
David Shagalov and partners Ariel Mangami and Menachem Wolf plan to open Bison & Bourbon at 191 Seventh St. between Second and Third avenues in May.
The space was previously occupied by The Bahche, which opened in 2013. Shagalov and his partners are teaming with The Bahche's owners, who also own the ironworks business next door to the restaurant.
Unlike The Bahche, which opened early in the morning to serve coffee, breakfast and lunch, Bison & Bourbon will serve only dinner, appetizers and drinks, Shagalov said.
The meat-focused menu will include traditional entrees as well as small-portioned "bites" ideal for snacking on in the roomy restaurant's upstairs lounge area, Shagalov said.
The restaurant's website describes it as a "food lover's escape" and Shagalov says his goal is to serve flavorful food at reasonable prices.
The restaurant's second floor will have couches and TVs and is big enough for private celebrations. The space could be a good spot for the seven-day parties that follow traditional Jewish weddings, Shagalov said.
On the ground floor, diners will find an outdoor seating area with "European ambience" as well as a spacious indoor dining room with a roomy bar — a rarity for kosher restaurants, Shagalov said.
“In the kosher world, there’s nothing like this at all both in terms of ambience and size,” Shagalov said. He added that despite Bison & Bourbon's kosher menu, he's hoping to attract non-Jewish diners. "It's geared for everyone to have a good time," Shagalov said.
He and his partners run a business importing consumer goods from China and have no previous restaurant experience. They chose to open their first dining venture in Gowanus in part because there's plenty of parking, which is an important amenity for Jewish families, Shagalov said. The partners' involvement with the restaurant was first reported by COLlive.
Other recent comings and goings on the local restaurant and retail scene include the following:
► Get your soup fix soon: seasonal pop-up shop The Soup Bowl will close both its locations March 23. The Soup Bowl runs winter soup shops at 319 Seventh Ave. near Ninth Street and 741 Union St. off Fifth Avenue. During warmer weather the spaces sell Uncle Louie G's ice cream.
► Bike shop On The Move has left 400 Seventh Ave. after 24 years in business, said co-owner Charles Perry. The business is moving to 259 13th St. (formerly occupied by Diamond Cuts barber shop) between Fourth and Fifth avenues and will be open within the next week after some renovations, Perry said. A new landlord took over the Seventh Avenue spot and the business couldn't afford its new rent, Perry told DNAinfo New York.
► La Royale Beer Burger House opened recently in the former Mezini space at 482 Fifth Ave. between 11th and 12th streets, Park Slope Stoop reported.
► Real estate giant Halstead took over the boutique firm Temple Morrow at 1214 Eighth Ave. between 12th and 13th streets, Halstead announced recently. Founded by Jesse Temple and Scott Morrow in 2011, Temple Morrow has seven agents.
