LOWER EAST SIDE — The Lucky Bee will finally get its cooking gas turned on Tuesday after three long months of making acclaimed Asian dishes on sub-par electrical alternatives, the restaurant owner said.
Owners of the restaurant at 252 Broome St. decided in January to go ahead and open the doors despite hurdles preventing Con Edison from supplying gas service — the FDNY had to OK a new fire suppression system before the eatery could use its new stove — and has been painstakingly cooking on induction burners ever since.
But the struggle will soon be over, according to a restaurant owner, who said the new system is installed and a Con Edison rep will be over to flip the switch sometime on Tuesday.
"Three months in, we're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel," said co-owner Rupert Noffs. "It's going to be a dream."
The induction burners would take two hours to boil a pot of water, said Noffs, leaving head chef and co-owner Matty Bennett struggling with machinery while trying to feed a 52-seat restaurant. Wait times have routinely been around two-and-a-half hours due to the difficulty of quickly turning out dishes.
Despite the setback, the restaurant has scored stellar reviews and was featured on Eater's "Hottest Restaurants in Manhattan" list.
While the restaurant so far has been offering an "opening menu," the introduction of the gas stove and oven will allow Bennett to introduce his full menu. The oven will also allow the chef to braise and bake whole snappers and whole chickens.
The eatery's ongoing struggle to get gas service caught the attention of Comptroller Scott Stringer, who paid a visit to the Lucky Bee on April 14 to chat about his recent study on the interaction between small businesses and governing bodies, and the bureaucratic red tape that often prevents those businesses from quickly getting the services they need. The restaurant's three-month trial is indicative of a larger issue, he said.
"It's great news that Lucky Bee was cleared to get their gas turned back on, but it shouldn't be this difficult to get action," the comptroller said.
The comptroller also put in a call to Con Edison the next day to help move the process along, a spokesman confirmed.
