Vanderbilt Avenue a "new" restaurant row, or just a new incarnation? (remember 2008 pronouncements)

So, Vanderbilt Avenue is having its restaurant/nightlife moment. Again. Upscaled. Let's recap.

Remember Time Out, 2/13/08, 'Bilt to last, by Joshua M. Bernstein:

A decade ago, Prospect Heights’ Vanderbilt Avenue was little more than an automotive speedway lined with liquor stores and barbershops. “There was nowhere to go after dark,” says Anatoly Dubinsky, owner of the pioneering Soda Bar. But since Dubinsky’s saloon opened in 2002, this street—only eight blocks long, from Atlantic Avenue to Grand Army Plaza—has blossomed into a bona fide destination. 

Well, not quite from Atlantic. As Eric McClure wrote on NoLandGrab:

"Bona fide destination?" But what about the blight? According to the Atlantic Yards Environmental Impact Statement, one-eighth of this sizzling stretch — the blocks on the west side of Vanderbilt between Atlantic Avenue and Dean Street — suffers from irreparable blight, and as such, is slated to be razed to make way for Bruce Ratner's megaproject.

At the time, the project had been approved, but was stalled, and waiting for a revision of deal terms.

Another 2008 nod

Then, on 10/8/08 came Adding to the Mix in Brooklyn, in the New York Times travel section:

NOT long ago, the hipsters of Brooklyn looked down their pierced noses on Prospect Heights, a sleepy neighborhood of brownstones and tree-lined streets just north of Prospect Park. While the area had a diverse mix of white, African-American and West Indian residents, there was little beside Caribbean takeout joints and hole-in-the-wall barbershops to tempt visitors.
But a burst of stylish new spots is changing that. Cocktail lounges, dancing dens and organic restaurants have moved in recently, drawing young couples and professionals who have perhaps outgrown Williamsburg and Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Though it wasn't solely about Vanderbilt, the article noted:

After dinner, the action moves to Vanderbilt Avenue, a wide commercial strip that cuts through Prospect Heights and is littered with boisterous bars.

Bonus: the author was urban planner and nightlife blogger Scott Solish, who now just happens to be the public face of Greenland USA's Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project. See him present at tonight's Quality of Life meeting.

Updating to 2020

On 2/25/20, the Commercial Observer published Vanderbilt at the Vanguard: Brooklyn’s New Restaurant Row. Juliet Izon's article started by citing new businesses like "Ciao, Gloria, a buzzy, new, all-day café and bakery" at the 550 Vanderbilt tower (the only condo building in Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park).

Her thesis:

This stretch of street — from roughly Park Place to Pacific Street — has become, in the past four or so years, ground zero for an eclectic group of restaurants, ranging from cult farm-to-table spots to innovative Mexican approved by the Michelin Guide. And while their cuisines may be disparate, all of them are attracting diners in droves. Where once there were simply local watering holes and good-enough neighborhood cafes, there are now fine dining restaurants that can command waits of nearly two hours for a table.

Not sure the past venues were merely "good-enough," but it's true that the "more or less mobbed" farm-to-table restaurant Olmsted has upped the game on Vanderbilt since it opened in 2020. And yes, the new businesses, like Maison Yaki, Alta Calidad, and LaLou, have a higher price point.

From the article:

Peter Schubert, managing director at TerraCRG, rents hover around $100 a foot, but can rise higher closer to Dean Street, where the new condominium complex at 550 Vanderbilt sits. It is home to Ciao, Gloria on the ground floor, as well as locations of popular ice cream shop Van Leeuwen and craft brewery bar Beer Street.

The Times in 2016 said Greenland Forest City Partners was seeking record rents of $100-$125 per square foot at 550 Vanderbilt; given likely concessions, I'd want to see more evidence.

So what's left from 2008?

Time Out had cited anchors like Garden Cafe (closed), Aliseo Osteria del Borgo (closed), Mitchell’s Fish & Chips (open), and Los Viejos Amigos (closed).

Newer places included Amorina (open), Weather Up (open), Noo Na (closed), The Old Brooklyn Parlor (closed), Soda Bar (open), Beast (closed), Barrette (closed), Joyce Bakeshop (open), the soon-to-beBranded Saloon (open), and Plan B (closed).

The Times article cited Weather Up and Joyce, as well as Barrette.