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A Look Into The Past Of
Some Montague Street
Restaurants
by Evan Bindelglass
Let's take a trip back in time down
Montague Street. What was there
before todays eateries? What do the
owners want you to order if you stop
by? Lets find out!
Teresas Restaurant
(80 Montague Street)
According to owner Teresa
Brzozowska (yes, there is a Teresa) it
was a dry cleaners before she opened
the restaurant in 1989.
Brzozowska is originally from Gdansk,
Poland. She came to America in 1980
and settled in Williamsburg, where she
has lived ever since. She had what she
describedas life experience inthe food
business. She worked in delis
(German, Jewish, Polish, French, and
American) and, in 1985, she opened
Teresas in the East Village (on 1st
Avenue between 6th and 7th). She had
some customers and friends who lived
in Brooklyn Heights and she found
Montague to be a nice street and
opened the second location. The
original bit the dust in 2007, but the
second incarnation is still going strong
25 years on. Brzozowska loves the
support of the public and said being a
neighborhood place makes business
very stable.
What The Owner Says To Order:
Appetizer: Chicken soup Entre: Cheese and
blueberry blintzes
Custom House
(139 Montague Street)
CustomHouseis a relative newcomer.
According to city records, the location
housed a two-car garage as of 1922.
However, people have been eating at
this spot for decades. It was a Hebrew
National deli, visual evidence of which
was left behind. La Traviata was around
for about 30 years.
Custom House owner Red Davis is a
native of Dublin, Ireland, where he was
a busboy at ODwyers pub. He came to
the U.S.A. in 1992 in search of a
change of scenery and eventually
landed at Clancys on 2nd Avenue and
52nd Street in Manhattan, which he ran
until 2010. Then he set his sights on Bk
and opened Custom House on June 9,
2012. When you walk in, dont forget to
look up. The atrium is two-stories-tall
and the ceilings beyond are also high.
What The Owner Says You Should Order:
Drink: Guinness
Entre: Shepherds Pie (made with lamb)
On the web:
brooklynbugle.com | brooklynheightsblog.com | cobblehillblog.com
Montague Strret
(continued)
Heights Caf
(84 Montague Street)
Buildings Department records from
1930list the first floor as simply stores.
As of 1940, the second floor was being
usedas a school. A1976document called
the Montague Street Revitalization
listeda York School, as well as anantique
store. As of 1967m it was the Plymouth
Pharmacy. For the 27years prior to1995,
the first floor was the Promenade
Restaurant, a staple of the area. It even
had its own postcards!
Eventually it closed and the space
became available. That caught the eye of
Greg Markman, who opened Caffe
Buon Gusto up the block in 1992 (he
sold his interest in it over a decade ago).
Markman teamed up with Joe
Secondino, who was an accountant at
ABC and with whom hes been friends
with since they were seventh graders at
JHS 281 (now IS 281) in Bensonhurst,
and, on May 15, 1995, opened Heights
Caf on the corner of Montague
and Hicks.
What The Owners Say To Order:
The Southern Boneless Fried Chicken with
mashed potatoes, gravy,
and coleslaw.
Do You Live in the Fort
Stirling Neighborhood?
by Claude Scales
Reader Ion Freeman has Willowtown envy:
he wants tolive ina part of BrooklynHeights
that has a name, other than Brooklyn
Heights or even the North Heights.
Were not sure exactly where he lives; its in
some unnamed region of the [N]orth [H]
eights between the fruit streets and
Montague. The name he proposes is Fort
Stirling Neighborhood.
If youve ever entered or exited the
promenade at Clark Street, or walked along
Columbia Heights where Clark Street ends,
youve passed the site of Fort Stirling .. Its
now marked by a sign that says Fort
Stirling Sitting Area, but the only
opportunities for sitting when I visited the
site yesterday were if one were to borrow
the seat of one of the bikes parked there.
There was, back in the eighteenth century, a
fort there. A signwhichhas beeninplace for
some years, tells its history.
Supposing there were a Fort Stirling
Neighborhood, what should be its
boundaries? Extending it as far south as
Montague seems a stretch, as does, as Mr.
Freeman suggests, having it go eastward to
Cadman Plaza. I would put its southern
boundary at the north side of Pierrepont
Place, and its eastern at the western side of
Henry. The fruit streets, as Mr. Freeman
acknowledges, seems to be a neighborhood
sub-designation of its own. Since Pineapple
Street is the next street northof Fort Stirling,
I would have the Fort Stirling
Neighborhood include Columbia Heights,
Willow, Hicks, and the west side of Henry as
far north as Pineapple, but would not
include the south side of Pineapple. Hows
that?
Read the full story at
BrooklynHeightsBlog.com
Now we've seen everything. Word comes to us via Twitter of a Justin
Bieber piata on sale at the Montague Street Key Food.
This, friends, is something the whole world wants and needs- the chance
to smack ol Biebs around. His seemingly insane behavior over the last
year is enough to fuel your aggression and bloodlust while hacking at
Canadas most hated export.
Justin Bieber Piata On Sale at Montague
Street Key Food
Here's an excerpt of Tim Sommer's Noise, The
Column found at brooklynbugle.com:
Finally, did you know that Capn
Crunchs full name is Horatio Magellan
Crunch? Seriously. And now that I
know that, for some reason I cannot
get out of my head the concept of (the
film) Captain Phillips being re-made
with Captain H. M. Crunch in the
titular role. Because that would have
changed everything. If those Somali
pirates had boarded that boat and
encountered that squat, pop-eyed,
Leno-jawed thing, they would have just
jumped overboard screaming and
rapidly intoning the name of whatever
god they worship. No hijack, no
violence, end of story, my friend.
Thats a film I want to see.
Way back in 2012, the New York State
Lottery filmed a commercial in and around
Brooklyn Heights. It featured zombies
lots of zombies.
BHB's Chuck Taylor wrote:
By mid-afternoon, the storyboard had
evolved to a crowd of zombies collected
aroundthe shiny newnewspaper vendor site
in front of City Chemist at 129 Montague
(with a car now completely overturned),
apparently consumed with deadly desire to
purchase NYClottery tix. Meanwhile, a mob
of ghoulish extras sat along Henry Street in
front of NY Kids Club, waiting their turn as
the action progressed. Photo: Chuck
Taylor/BHB
Heights History: Jack
the Horse Tavern and
66 Hicks Street
by Evan Bindelglass
Ever wondered what the story was
behind your favorite restaurant?
Well, it might be about more than
food or even one mans dream. Here
is an exploration of how some
Brooklyn Heights restaurants came
to be and what their owners say best
exemplifies their spirit. Plus, you will
get to see what they looked like back
in 1967! (Full story at
brooklynheightsblog.com)
Jack the Horse Tavern
(66 Hicks Stree)
According to owner Tim Oltmans,
the building was constructed back in
1829, but the restaurant actually
occupies space in 66 Hicks Street and
neighbor 64 Hicks Street, which was
built in 1915 and was an apartment as
far back as 1940, according to city
records. 66 Hicks Streets first floor
was G. Marcolini Fine Wines &
Liquors for 50 or 60 years, says
Oltmans.
Eventually it was another wine shop
and even a pet store before sitting
vacant in 2006. Enter Oltmans (and
his wife Micki), a native of
Minneapolis, where his fathers fresh
garden engrained his love of food,
and veteran of restaurants Trois Jean,
Gramercy Tavern, and Tabla and of
the French Culinary Institute.
In 2008, the couple opened Jack the
Horse Tavern, whose name comes
from Jack the Horse Lake in
Minnesota, where Tim, his father,
and brothers used to go fishing.
What The Owner Says To Order:
Cocktail: JTH Negroni (made with Brooklyn
Gin) or an Old Fashioned
Appetizer: Heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella
Entre: Slow-braised short rib with cheddar grits
and Brussels sprouts (Sep-Apr)
Publisher
John Homer Fink Loscalzo
CTO
Qfwfq
Super-Blogger/Corporate Counsel
Claude Scales
Staff Reporter
Michael Randazzo
Columnists
Tim Sommer
Alexandra Bowie
Contributors
Heather Quinlan
Erin Cassin
Teresa Genaro
Katherine Heller
Dan Patterson
TK Small
Coleen Quill
Mrs. Fink
Matthew Parker
Video/Photos
Jason Shaltz
Hard Boiled Newsman
Marc Hermann
Chief Correspondent Emeritus
Sarah Portlock
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Chuck Taylor
All inquires:
info@thebrooklynbugle.com
Brooklyn Heights Blog hosted a debate on September 2 at St. Francis College
between the Democratic candidates in the 52nd Assembly District. Jo Anne Simon
beat out challengers Pete Sikora and Doug Biviano in the September 9 primary. She
will face GOP nominee John Jasilli in November. Photo: Jason Shaltz
BHB Hosts Political Debate
Links to all stories printed here
available at:
brooklynbugle.com/montague/
Heights History: Zombies!
Google Street View Car Cruises
Down Henry Street
Mrs. Fink snapped a photo of the Google Street ViewCar cruising at the corner of Henry
and Clark Streets in Brooklyn Heights on Sunday (9/14) afternoon. So look for updated
views of the neighborhood soon on Google Maps!
66 Hicks Street, 1967. Photo courtesy New York City Landmarks Preservation
Commission