HUNTS POINT — A former MCA Records executive plans to open a seafood and burger restaurant in the South Bronx that he describes as a cooler version of Red Lobster.
Robert "Don Pooh" Cummins, who worked with hip-hop moguls like Sean "Diddy" Combs and Russell Simmons during his time at MCA but has since turned his attention to the food industry, plans to open his first Bronx restaurant called Pounds at 932 Southern Blvd. in six or seven months.
"It’s right where the train and the bus meet, and it’s a retail corridor and development of the future, so I think that it’s a great location," Cummins said. "And we’re in a brand new renovated building."
Cummins currently owns three IHOPs in Brooklyn, but this will be his first restaurant in The Bronx and his first eatery that is not a chain.
He decided to call the restaurant Pounds because that is the unit of measurement customers will order some of the menu items in — for instance, a 1, 2 or 3 pound lobster.
Cummins said the restaurant will have a "loungey" atmosphere and include a bar, and he maintained that investing in The Bronx at this moment was a very unique opportunity.
"Right now, The Bronx is an area that a lot of development is happening in, and I think they need a — what is the word I’m looking for — a good time," he said, "so I’ll open a restaurant."
He said that the food industry and the entertainment industry were extremely similar and that he was excited about the chance to get creative with his new restaurant.
"It gives you a chance to go into different businesses and branch out," he said. "Now I’m going to be a little more creative with my own brand."
