PARK SLOPE — Two Boots of Brooklyn fans, put on your dancing shoes.
The husband and wife team behind the much-loved pizza and Cajun restaurant on Second Street, which closed in 2013, is opening a new casual restaurant and bar in Gowanus.
Co-owners Andy and Piper Wandzilak are shooting for an early May opening for the new venue at 491 Third Ave., near 11th Street, Andy Wandzilak told DNAinfo New York on Monday.
The name and exact menu are still in the works, but Andy Wandzilak said the food will be "Brooklyn-American" with a touch of New Orleans — for example, po' boys that incorporate Cubano sandwich elements.
The new eatery will seat about 75 people and will be "a neighborhood bar" aimed at serving a range of ages, not just 20-somethings, Wandzilak said.
Families with children will be welcome, but the new establishment won't have the above-and-beyond kid pleasers found at the old Two Boots, such as the pizza window where young customers could watch chefs work and the extensive kids menu, he said.
"It's going to be the same sort of neighborhood-friendly [atmosphere], but it’s going to be a much smaller place," Andy Wandzilak said. "It's a little more intimate space that will be rustic and cheerful."
The venue will host occasional live music and DJ'ed events, Wandzilak said.
The chef will be Katie O'Donnell, who previously worked as chef de cuisine at the Mario Batali seafood restaurant Esca and at Frankie's 570 in the West Village. She met the Wandzilaks when she volunteered at a Sandy relief kitchen the couple launched in Park Slope to help feed those affected by the superstorm.
The Wandzilaks had once planned to renovate their former Two Boots of Brooklyn spot at 514 Second St. into a new restaurant, but that didn't happen. The space is now a Compass real estate office. Two Boots returned to Park Slope in 2014 with a new location (not involving the Wandzilaks) at 284 Fifth Ave. There are now about a dozen Two Boots locations nationally.
Since closing Two Boots of Brooklyn, the Wandzilaks have been working in the operations department at Ample Hills Creamery and doing backstage catering for entertainers at Kings Theatre in Flatbush.
"We missed having our community of friends and neighbors," Andy Wandzilak said of their decision to return to the restaurant world. "We'd been missing the public side of what we did."
The Community Board 6 permits committee voted unanimously in favor of supporting the new venue's liquor license application Monday evening, Wandzilak said late Monday, and the full community board is expected to review it next month.
Other recent Openings & Closings in the neighborhood include:
► Longtime Women's Boutiques Goldy + Mac and Flirt Brooklyn Both Closing
► 6 New Restaurants on Park Slope's Fifth Avenue Open Now or Coming Soon
► Morbid Anatomy Museum Closes as 'Good Press Doesn't Pay the Rent'
► Gorilla Coffee Closing Fifth Avenue Cafe in Park Slope After 15 Years
► Comedy and Cocktails Coming to Park Slope's Fifth Avenue
► Park Slope Retail Veterans Open Two New Boutiques in the Neighborhood
► Photofaction Closes in Park Slope But Other Local Places Still Process Film
► Brooklyn Brainery Opening Windsor Terrace Location
► Flora Brings 'Authentic' Italian to Park Slope; Scalino and Lobo Close
► Blue Bottle Coffee Opens in Park Slope with Free Drinks
► 'Top Chef' Alum Opens A&E Supply Co. in Gowanus With Coffee and Doughnuts
