SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

The grilled whole salmon from the newly-reborn Amberjack V Mediterranean restaurant.

Amberjack V

The Amberjack V (Emmons Avenue, Pier 10), a long-time staple of Sheepshead Bay’s harbor cruise fleet, was reborn when it reopened on Friday as a Mediterranean restaurant operated by the same folks behind Anatolian Gyro (1605 Sheepshead Bay Road).

The new seafood restaurant, cafe and bar will keep the old name to honor its former owners, but won’t be making the trip out into the open ocean anytime soon, said Metin Turan, Anatolian’s owner and now partner in the Amberjack. Instead, they’ll be serving their Turkish and Mediterranean fare dockside, only leaving port for special event cruises.

The restaurant has a full bar and the menu is dominated by seafood, befitting its location on the waters of Sheepshead Bay. It has two floors, seating approximately 150, and in good weather will also have outdoor seating. Belly dancers and live music will take place on the ship’s deck, luring in would-be patrons.

“People want to come and eat and enjoy the city’s waters, and listen to a little music,” Turan said. ”It’s something new and something interesting [for the Sheepshead Bay marina].”

The 120-foot-long vessel was previously owned by Fred Ardolino, who also owns the Atlantis, a larger cruise boat docked in the Bay. The Amberjack V has made history twice – first when Ardolino became the first in the Bay to convert a fishing boat to a dinner cruise ship in the late 1980s; and again on September 11, 2001, when she and the captain, Vincent Ardolino, played a pivotal role helping evacuate survivors from Manhattan to other boroughs in the largest sea evacuation in history.

And if anyone thinks opening a restaurant on a ship in the Bay is a bad business decision after Hurricane Sandy, Turan is undeterred.

“This was here in Sandy and nothing happened to it. The good thing about the boat, as long as you [give the rope slack], the boat goes up with the water,” Turan said. “And you can always take the boat out to a safer place.”

The Amberjack V will celebrate its grand opening at noon on Sunday.

Adelman’s Kosher Deli at 1906 Kings Highway closed its doors for good after 60 years of serving the Kings Highway neighborhood hot pastrami and fluffy matzoh balls.

The restaurant closed up at the start of Passover on March 25, as it does every year. But fans of the delicatessen were shocked when they tried returning after the holiday and found that the eatery never reopened.

As of yesterday, the restaurant remained closed and the windows were covered with paper. There was no sign indicating the closure or a goodbye message to customers. The business’ phone number has been disconnected, and owners could not be reached for comment.

According to a representative for the landlord, however, the neighborhood staple had fallen far behind on rent and was having money troubles. The landlord won an eviction against the business operator after failing to strike a deal.

The landlord, Waldorf Realty Co., said that there’s still a chance Adelman’s could reopen. The evicted owner was not the original owner of the restaurant, and the original owner may still have the right to seize the business and take over the lease.

“We’re waiting to see what the original owner of Adelman’s wants to do,” the representative said. “The Adelman’s name may be worth something to them. Maybe they’ll get partners or investors to come in and reopen it.”

Adelman’s has been in its current location for about half of its 60-year existence. To the right you can see a photo of the location taken by the Department of Finance in the 1980s.

Adelman’s was one of three remaining old-school kosher delicatessens in Southern Brooklyn. The last two are Jay & Lloyd’s Kosher Deli (2718 Avenue U) and Mill Basin Deli (5823 Avenue T).

Posted this morning on Di Fara’s Facebook page:

[Di Fara] is happy to announce that several doors down we will be opening a tiny take out place offering all our old menu items that so many have been missing. We will have pasta, heros, salad and more.We expect to open mid April. All our products will use the finest and freshest ingredients as we always do at Difara….please, no questions at this time…Will update as we see fit ! Thank you….Happy April !

Eater, which was the first to report on this off-shoot of the current Di Fara’s location (1424 Avenue J), notes that it will be the first time in at least 10 years since Di Fara sold pasta dishes.

This is a paid announcement from il Fornetto, Sheepshead Bay’s premier waterfront dining establishment at 2902 Emmons Avenue.

Click to enlarge

For more information, visit il Fornetto’s website.

The above is a paid announcement by il Fornetto. Sheepshead Bites has not verified the claims made in this advertisement. If you own a business and would like to announce a special offer to tens of thousands of locals, e-mail us at advertising [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com.

A sign hangs in the newly constructed glass storefront of Munchinette, at 1738 Sheepshead Bay Road, proudly declaring that the business will reopen soon.

The eatery – with its smoothies, wraps, sandwiches and protein shakes – has been closed ever since Superstorm Sandy flooded the corridor. Although we haven’t spoken to the owner since the storm, we know he has been planning to give the entire place a facelift for several years.

The new space is already looking good, with the storefront’s walls built out all the way to its property line, adding a bit of space. We, and hundreds of Bally’s members, I’m sure, are looking forward to their reopening.

It’s another restaurant switcheroo at 1788 Sheepshead Bay Road, with Cafe Rokhat opening up last week on the site of two previous kebab joints.

The business replaces Aladdin Restaurant, which opened in December 2011, but ended up shutting down when Superstorm Sandy came through. The business that preceded it, Garden Bay Cafe, had a much longer run in the location, but similarly ended in tragedy when a fire ravaged the building.

We stopped in to check out the menu, only to learn that there wasn’t a single English letter on it. A waiter informed us it would serve dishes from Tajikistan, a central Asian nation that borders Uzbekistan. They also serve “some French stuff,” the waiter said.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Cafe Rokhat.

It seems like every spring there’s a new thing going on over at the 1307 Avenue Z Puff Caffe storefront. Back in 2011, they renovated and introduced cheese and chocolate fondue to their lineup. In 2012, they closed for renovations.

Now, in 2013, they’re switching gears altogether and are going full-steam-ahead on a true cafe concept – and with a tweaked name, Puff Cafe & Coffee. There’s counter-service for coffee, tea and espresso beverages from Italian coffee maker Lavazza, pastries, comfortable seating and free wi-fi. There’s a whole new menu, and I’m assuming the signage will change soon to reflect that it’s more of a cafe than a hookah and fondue lounge.

One very important change is that they’ve opened up the front of the store to natural light with a glass storefront – making the whole place a lot more welcoming.

They haven’t changed their website yet (puffcaffe.com – not cafe!), so we can all still enjoy the boo-bee-boo-bop dance beat that starts playing on every single load of every single page without a way to turn it off. We’ll miss that.

This is a paid announcement from il Fornetto, Sheepshead Bay’s premier waterfront dining establishment at 2902 Emmons Avenue.

The above is a paid announcement by il Fornetto. Sheepshead Bites has not verified the claims made in this advertisement. If you own a business and would like to announce a special offer to tens of thousands of locals, e-mail us at advertising [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com.

This is a paid announcement from Bassett Caterers, Sheepshead Bay’s premier deli and caterer at 1404 Avenue X.

From now until February 3, Bassett Caterer is offering an extraordinary Playoff / Super Bowl Package on any Saturday or Sunday. For just $199 (+ tax), you can leave all the work of feeding up to 20 hungry football fans to us, and sit and enjoy the game! See the flier above for details!

Bassett Caterers, 1404 Avenue X, (718) 332-9000.

The above is a paid announcement by Bassett Caterers. Sheepshead Bites has not verified the claims made in this advertisement. If you own a business and would like to announce a special offer to tens of thousands of locals, e-mail us at advertising [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com.

The owners of Chateau De Alik (1223 Avenue U) are getting fishy with a new project: Chateau Lagoon, a new seafood restaurant and market heading to Coney Island Avenue.

But don’t think for a second it’s going to be much like their current French-infused location.

“It’s a different type of restaurant. It’s a different theme,” said Joseph Shafie, one of the partners. “There’s going to be seafood, slash fish market, slash this, slash that. Everything has to do with seafood only.”

In addition to a seafood restaurant and fish market, there’ll be a large sushi bar. The market will also sell fish smoked in-house.

How will they fit it all? Well, they’re taking the huge space at 2570 Coney Island Avenue formerly occupied by R & S Strauss Discount Auto that closed when the national chain went bankrupt in June. The space is 5,000 square feet, and the restaurant owners signed a 10-year lease, according to Arsen Atbashyan, the CEO of Commercial Acquisitions Realty Services, who brokered the deal.

“We started marketing it for retail use and, considering it was an auto part store, we offered it to Pep Boys. But they passed on it because it was too small and no parking,” Atbashyan said. “And then we had this restaurant looking for space on Coney Island Avenue and it just seemed like a perfect match.”

Pep Boys’ loss is our gain – but we’ll have to wait. Chateau Lagoon won’t be open until late spring at the earliest, Shafie said.