By Lisa Kava
Settepani, a Harlem-based Italian restaurant and bakery, opened an outpost on December 22nd at the Gottesman Ice Rink in Central Park’s new Davis Center (at the northern end of Central Park). The menu features pastries, paninis, soups, salads, and pizzas, along with hot and iced beverages, according to a press release from the Central Park Conservancy. Settepani was founded in 1992 as a bakery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and later expanded to open the Harlem location. It is now open at the Davis Center 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.
Bar Manje, a Caribbean restaurant, opened in December, operating in the evenings out of Good Enough to Eat at 520 Columbus Avenue (at West 85th Street). Hours are 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., seven nights a week. Owner Kingsley John, who is originally from St. Lucia, began his career 35 years ago as a dishwasher for Good Enough to Eat owner and restaurateur Jeremy Wladis. He eventually worked his way up to line cook and subsequently worked at various NYC eateries, including the popular Harlem restaurant Red Rooster. Menu items at Bar Manje include Jamaican patties filled with goat, beef or vegetables, curried chickpeas in turmeric bread, corn soup with dumplings, oxtail lasagna, jerk chicken, and mahi mahi. Bar Manje replaces Telio Taverna which had been using Good Enough to Eat’s space to serve dinner before rebranding as Telio’s in December and opening its own location.
Natural Pilates, a Pilates studio, is “soft opening” on January 17th at 2091 Broadway (between West 72nd and West 73rd streets). Natural Pilates was founded in Los Angeles in 2005 and has four locations in the L.A. area. Other NYC locations are in Soho and on the Upper East Side. A studio in Flatiron is coming soon. Natural Pilates offers an “athletic, form focused approach to classical Pilates,” a representative wrote to West Side Rag in an email. “Our group classes combine the reformer, tower, and chair to create dynamic, challenging workouts that build strength, precision, and body awareness.” Class packages are available with “founders discounts” of 20% off regular pricing. Natural Pilates will also offer mat Pilates classes and limited private sessions. “We are proud to bring our signature style and community to the Upper West Side,” the representative wrote. (Thanks to Laura for the tip.)
SoBol, an acai bowl and smoothie shop, is planning to open on January 21st at 550 Columbus Avenue (between West 86th and West 87th streets). It will be primarily for takeout orders but there will be limited indoor seating, franchise owner Alex Kostas told West Side Rag. Customers will also be able to order via a SoBol app, he said. In addition to acai bowls and smoothies, SoBol serves waffles and egg bites. The company, which was founded in 2013, has over 100 locations nationwide. This will be the second franchise for Kostas, who has been with SoBol for nine years. His other cafe is in Forest Hills. The space was previously a smoke shop.
Vive La Crepe, at 189 Columbus Avenue (at West 69th Street), has permanently closed. Signage in the window directs customers to the other Upper West Side location at 520 Columbus Avenue (between West 85th and West 86th streets), as well as locations on the Upper East Side, in Hudson Yards, and in New Jersey. The cafe has not responded to West Side Rag’s outreach asking about a reason for the closure. A clerk at the 520 Columbus Avenue location told West Side Rag that the 189 Columbus Avenue location closed right before Christmas.
The Openings & Closings column wouldn’t be possible without our many tipsters: thank you! Anyone can send tips about openings and closings in the neighborhood to info@westsiderag.com.
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Smoke shop to acai bowl place is a huge upgrade (if it’s quality)
SoBol is great!
Terrific news about Bar Manje and I can’t wait to try it. I love what Wladis is doing by effectively creating a pop up to see if the restaurant gets traction with the neighborhood and can work out any kinks before signing a full lease somewhere else. Running a restaurant is hard and what a great way to break in with a bit of a safety net. Appreciate the support Wladis continues to show towards this neighborhood. He is also responsible for many different properties and enabling a variety of cuisines. Let’s all support our newest neighbor and the other Vladis properties. Thank you Jeremy. Other local business and landlords should think about this model when they have underutilized space. Our city council should do what they can to support him. He creates business, tax revenue, opportunities, and jobs as well as positively adding to quality of life for residents.
Your experience and impressions are very different than mine. I’m willing to grant Jeremy Wladis the benefit of the doubt regarding intentions (though I seriously doubt there’s any altruism involved), but time and again his execution has been weak–so much so that I consider him a schlockmeister. There’s a world of difference between the Good Enough to Eat of Carrie Levin (original founder) and the one of Mr. Wladis. And it’s a pattern: there’s a decidedly middling quality to almost everything else he touches.
Hmm, here’s an entirely different take on Jeremy Wladis as a boss in the restaurant business:
https://youtu.be/7ornIL4fzX0?si=ohDF0K7m0J4JTf3N
That doesn’t mean very much these days. There’s no evidence presented in that video of anything and there are leftist employee groups attacking businesses all over, like Breads Bakery which is under attack from its own employees just for the owners being jewish basically.
Thanks – always different sides to every situation. Will be alert when I visit his restaurants but generally speaking the vibes are always positive, food and drinks are tasty and fairly priced, and workers seem happy. I’m glad that workers who feel mistreated have options to complain. Nobody is forced to work where they don’t feel valued. Especially in a city like NY with lots of options.
Well said!
I love Caribbean food of all kinds but I wish Manje was more of a casual, drop-in kind of place instead of a sit down restaurant. Why is there nowhere here to pick up a quick patty on the go?
Agree that a fast casual restaurant of this type would be a huge boon to the neighborhood but for a quick patty on the go, any bodega or pizza parlor carries those Jamaican beef patties and will warm them up for you in a flash.
There’s a branch of Vive la Crepe at 70th and Lex. I happened to be there last week, it was very good! They have real buckwheat batter for savory crepes, which a lot of places don’t (and they will make savory crepes with sweetened batter, which is weird!). I never knew about them before – sorry to hear they have closed on the west side! Maybe they’ll open up further north, like, say, 110th Street! That would be awesome, but I’m biased!
Oh crepe, there goes the neighborhood.
Had a really excellent dinner at Bar Manje Sunday night. They were out of some things we wanted to try, but the doubles, bake n shark, shrimp and grits, and trini corn soup were all terrific. Eager to return to try more and hope it succeeds!
This pescatarian is excited to try it!
It looks like a Broadway Farm, brdwy/85th is preparing to close. Not restocking.
People have said that before, that they are not restocking . Did anyone working there day anything?
Stopped in two weeks ago to buy a pound of coffee and some cheese — and they had almost none of either. Shelves were almost empty and the contents of the deli counter (which bore a “closed” sign) looked old and congealed. Only the produce section was stocked. Sad. With Safra’s closing on the other corner of that block, and the long-shuttered Gristede’s across 86th, that’s a lot of empty retail in a short stretch of Broadway.
When is Daniel Boulud’s new restaurant opening in the neighborhood?
Is Miznon on Broadway between 112th and 113th ever going to open? Every now and then, some work is done, permits go up, but it never opens. I think they first put up a sign during the pandemic. It must have cost a fortune to pay rent all these years.
Loved Bar Manje. Food is so fresh and flavorful. Please support them. If it were me
I would blast reggae but ease in. If you ever had a Double this is it.
Please open something north of 100th Street.
Why nothing about Broadway farm?
Panineria is open on Amsterdam between 89th and 90th, and there is a new pilates place opening on Amsterdam between 91st and 92nd!