By Lisa Kava and Natalie Demaree
Picnic by the Black Parrot, a kosher American bistro and bar, opened on June 17th at 161 West 106th Street (between Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue). Owner and Chef Meir Levy trained in culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University. He previously worked at NY Brat Factory, Boru Boru, The Elgin, and Super Nice Pizza. “Opening Picnic has been a dream for a long time, so seeing it finally come to life and become part of the community is really special,” Levy wrote to West Side Rag in an email. “We are excited to get to know our neighbors and create a place where people want to come back.”
Menu items include; sandwiches, salads, burgers, tostadas, tacos, and sweet and spicy cauliflower. Picnic by the Black Parrot also serves cocktails, wine, beer, and house-made sodas. It is open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays, from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Fridays for Happy Hour, and from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. for bar-only service on Saturdays. Picnic by the Black Parrot draws its name from a beautiful tulip Levy was inspired by at the New York Botanical Garden, Levy told the Rag. The tulip was called “the black parrot.” Levy added the name “picnic” to reflect the casual dining vibe at the restaurant. He hopes to open a sister restaurant offering fine dining at a future date. Makana, a Hawaiian restaurant, was previously in the space.
Wells Fargo, a bank and financial services company, opened a branch at 2829 Broadway (at West 109th Street) on August 10th. The bank is also opening a branch at 1960 Broadway (at West 66th Street) in October, a spokesperson wrote to West Side Rag in an email. “Branches continue to play an important role in the way we serve our customers in combination with our mobile app, website and ATMs. We are actively investing in our branch network by opening new locations and refurbishing our entire network,” the spokesperson wrote. “The upcoming opening of our Broadway and 66th branch is another step in creating a more modern, open and community-centric branch network for customers.” Century 21, the discount designer clothing store that closed in 2020 was the last tenant in the space. (Thanks to Dena for the tip.)
New Asia, a Chinese takeout restaurant at 666 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 92nd and West 93rd streets) was shut down by the Department of Health following an inspection on August 19th. Violations include: live roaches in food and non-food areas, filth flies or food/refuse sewage associated with filth flies, no handwashing facility in or adjacent to the toilet room, and food, supplies, or equipment not protected from potential sources of contamination. The full report can be found here.
M. Studio, a nail salon, has signage up and has signed a lease at 155 West 66th Street (between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway). The salon also offers brow services (eyebrow shaping, lash lifts, and tints), and laser hair removal. Another nail salon called La Fontaine Spa was previously in the space. (Thanks to Danielle for the tip.)
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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Wish we had the Black Parrot down near Lincoln Center! But happy to learn of all the openings.
Glad to see something is finally going in the space on 66th next to Gourmet Garage- it’s been many years since La Fontaine Spa closed. But the M. Studio space is HUGE for a nail salon and if I’m reading the leasing info on the linked to website correctly, they’re paying $200 per square foot for 4,366 square feet- that’s $873,2000 annually for rent alone. Seems line an insurmountable rent burden unless prices are INSANE so will be watching to see how this develops…
The Century 21 space is enormous, wonder how much of that a Wells Fargo branch can possibly utilize
There is a school on thr 2nd floor already.
The Westside really doesn’t need Wells Fargo branches —
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-cfpb-orders-wells-fargo-pay-37-bln-penalties-mismanagement-2022-12-20/
https://www.rgrdlaw.com/news-item-Reuters-Highlights-300-Million-Preliminary-Settlement-in-Wells-Fargo.html
Are we playing who knows how to google stuff banks do? Oh good. How about this one? You’d never find a tenant if you had to make sure they’d never done anything questionable https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/td-bank-insider-pleads-guilty-facilitating-money-laundering
Fine. Then you can choose not to do business there. Others feel differently (I am not a customer). I would prefer them to empty store fronts. Agree that they are not perfect but they also do a lot of good for the community and employ a lot of people.
Tell that to all the people Wells Fargo defrauded in that huge cross-selling scandal. I’m sure they’ll agree with you.
“they also do a lot of good for the community”
Funny. Tell that to all the people they defrauded in that huge cross-selling scandal.
Would you please repeat that?
That was ten years ago. They paid major fines for this. Again – not saying they are saints. But I also don’t see the world in black and white. It is a very simplistic way to live life.
Do I need a restraining order on you? You seem to be really belligerent towards me. Mods? Please?
It’s ingrained in the corporate culture regardless of how much time passed or the penalties. The attempts to regain trust at the grassroots level are disingenuous.
I was an employee at the time this happened. I was far removed from what happened. Partially due to these events I lost my job even though I had nothing to do with it and was in no way aware it was happening. During my time there I and almost everyone I worked with performed our roles in a morally upstanding way. To broadly generalize like that about a large organization is ignorant and uncalled for.
Wells Fargo did bad things. They were penalized. One can reasonably argue whether the penalty was sufficient. If one chooses to refrain from doing business with them going forward as a result of this, that is their right. See how some of us are able to not see the world strictly in good/bad, black/white ways?
Please stop with your moral grandstanding and generally nasty tone. I agree with Carlos that your attitude is not appropriate for this forum. I would expect better of my UWS neighbors.
Your post is anecdotal at best and strangely ignores the larger issue of fraud deeply ingrained in the corporate culture. This scandal came from the top down, as you well know. It takes more than 10 years to restructure from a culture that encouraged and rewarded fraud as a matter of corporate practice. There is endless literature on this.
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Good location. Just up the block and across the street from the New Jewish Home Also not far from institutions of higher learning and all their hungry students. I hope for it’s not too expensive a menu.
Just what we need is another nail salon that offers subpar service.
Aren’t you a bundle of sunshine?
How did you decide the service is sub par before it has even opened?
Skip New Asia and go to Kam Lai one block north. Much better.
Interesting to see a new kosher restaurant right next to an Ayat restaurant that’s named for a pro-Palestinian protest.
I would never bank at Wells Fargo.
The owner of the Kosher restaurant and the Palestinian restaurant are on very friendly terms and Ayat’s owners have helped the owners of Picnic by the Black Parrot out a lot as they prepared to open. They are an example of what neighborly cooperation can be, even among potential competitors. Also, Hind Hall is not named after a pro-Palestinian protest. It is named about Hind Rajab.
That’s good to know about the cooperation thank you but it’s specifically named Hinds Hall which was the name of the protest at Columbia. Their other restaurants are all named Ayat plus the location.
They are both named after Hind Rajab, a five year old girl killed by the IDF.
Blowing smoke? It is indeed named for the Columbia protest place. Think WSR had commented on it in some previous article on the place. And it is HindS Hall. With an S.
Wells Fargo. Hilarious how easily the ovine forget. For every new account you open, you get five fraudulent ones care of upper management. What a deal!
That was ten years ago.
Do you ever have anything nice to say?
Doesn’t matter. It takes more than 10 years to change that kind of corporate culture.
How do you know that? You’re just making up arbitrary numbers and declarations. When a company suffers that kind of black eye, it can be appropriately motivated to change its corporate culture very quickly.
I’ve dined once at the new Black Parrot. The salmon dish was exquisite. My companion said his burger was the best he’s ever had. In the 44 years that I’ve lived on West 106th St. in Manhattan Valley, I’ve not experienced cuisine this elevated. We are definitely coming back!
Congratulations to Chef Meir Levy for bringing this jewel of a restaurant to our corner of the UWS. We wish you every success!
Glory Ann
Please look into Chinese Restaurants.
It is with disappointment that most , if not all are now serving frozen food, dumplings frozen, all chicken dishes frozen, beef frozen.
So disappointing. New York was known for top of the line Chinese food.
NOT ANYMORE
You’re going to the wrong Chinese restaurants. Plenty of places where you can see them actually making the dumplings and dim sum from scratch right in front of you.
Source?
Continue to be puzzled that there are so many nail places?
And that they can make money?
Re: the new M Studio, there is already a nail salon around the corner on Amsterdam 66-67th
how many nail salons does any given neighborhood need? still, i wish them well! a great way to save money is not getting one’s nails done.