Category Archives: restaurants

Attend Savor The Season-Uptown in Harlem September 18

Chef Marcus Samuelsson of Harlem’s Red Rooster and Maritza Wellington Owens, Chief Executive Officer, of Harvest Home Farmer’s Market have come together to create Savor The Season-Uptown. Savor The Season will showcase the ‘best of the best’ chefs who work north of 110th Street. Guests will enjoy tastings from eight different restaurateurs, bakeries, wines curated by The Winery and beers and spirits curated by the up and coming Harlem Public. The event will take place the evening of September 18 at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que banquet hall, located on 125th Street and 12th Avenue.

Participating restaurants will be Red Rooster Harlem, Creole, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Jin Ramen, Le Monde, Moby Catering, Melba’s, 5 and Diamond, Levain Bakery, and Tonnie’s Minis.

To learn more about the event and order tickets, click here.

Harvist in Harlem makes NY Times Fall Restaurant Preview List

Around this time every year, The New York Times publishes a list of all the new restaurants opening up in the Fall and one Harlem establishment made the cut: Harvist. Harvist will be located at 40 West 116th Street in the My Image Studios and “will serve Cassandra Quinlan-Ashford’s rustic fare with Southern and Latin-American influences, including skirt steak with salsa verde, chicken and dumplings, and red velvet cake.” To date it is the only restaurant planned in this commercial space in Harlem, which is also home to the Kalahari Condominium.

Marcus Samuelsson also received a mention about another restaurant he is opening up in the City, but in the Lincoln Center area of Manhattan.

Check out the complete list here.

Harlem’s Cedric French Bistro and Bar turns one


Another Harlem dining establishment is celebrating its first anniversary! Cedric French Bistro and Bar is hitting their one year mark and they are inviting everyone over to celebrate with a champagne brunch tomorrow, August 18 from noon to 6 pm. Head on over, they are offering free mimosa’s for those that dine there. And congrats to Cedric French Bistro on reaching this milestone!

Johnny Rockets in East Harlem expected to open soon

A little pajarito tells HarlemGal Inc that the Johnny Rockets we blogged about back in October is aiming to open in the next week or so. That’s if they pass inspection and can get their gas turned on. Whether its next week or not, they’re prepared to open in the immediate future in the East River Plaza, which is located at the end of East 116th Street. Stay tuned!

20120814-140604.jpg

Sunday happenings at Harlem Tavern and Corner Social


Need plans today in Harlem, Sunday August 12? Turn to Harlem Tavern on Frederick Douglass Blvd and 116th Street, and Corner Social on 126th Street and Lenox Avenue. Harlem Tavern will be showing on their big TV screens the Men’s Olympic Gold Medal Basketball game. Doors open at 10 AM! Later in the evening they will be showing the London Olympic’s closing ceremony.

Two boulevards over on Lenox Avenue, Corner Social is celebrating Labor Day Carnival-Trinidad style. The festivities at Corner Social start at 6 PM and ends at 9 PM. All the carnival details are in the photo!

Have a great Sunday in Harlem!

Chef Stephen Putnam moves on from Lido Harlem, sought-after caterer Serena Bass steps in

20120725-204136.jpg
Lido Italian Restaurant and Bar in Harlem is experiencing some changes, but don’t worry. These changes are positive for everyone involved, especially the consumer. Lido Harlem, located at 117th Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd., exclusively tells HarlemGal Inc. that British-born, celeb following caterer, Serena Bass has been hired by the Harlem eatery to redevelop their menu. This decision to hire Bass to redevelop Lido’s menu is right out of the oven practically. Bass will start working with the Lido team effective immediately! In her bio, it reads: Bass’ most recent venture is at Lido Harlem where she is taking the popular neighborhood restaurant to a new level. So let’s all pay attention to the menu at Lido. I am confident it will have that similar ingredient: quality food.

These changes are happening at Lido due to initial Chef Stephen Putnam giving notice last week to the management team that he was departing the Harlem dining place to start his own restaurant in Harlem, along with his wife Dera. Putnam will not comment on the exact location of his Harlem restaurant or the starting date because he is in the midst of negotiations. However, Putnam does say that he plans on serving cuisine at his new place that garnered him a 26 out of 30 rating from Zagat while at Lido.

And for those of us who like dining at Lido Harlem, like I do, the service, ambiance and quality of food will remain the same, according to its management team. Lido will continue to provide the same level of service it has been consistently offering since it opened about a year and a half ago. And be on the look out for Serena Bass in Harlem. Just so you know, her clients include Sarah Jessica Parker and Oscar de la Renta.

Sylvia Woods, who founded famous Harlem restaurant, passes

This evening, Harlem lost a legend. Sylvia Woods, who earned the grand title: the Queen of Soul Food, has gone on to a better place.  The Wood’s Family announced on Facebook tonight that the women who founded and created one of the most famous soul food restaurants in Harlem and in New York City, Sylvia’s Restaurant, succumbed to Alzheimer’s. In their statement, the Wood’s Family said before she left, Sylvia was surrounded by the same environment she created at her Lenox Avenue restaurant: “a host of family and loved ones.”

As one person said on Twitter this evening, “they’re eating collards, fried chicken, and cornbread in heaven tonight…” Amen. 😦

Melba’s Restaurant returns to The View July 24

The ladies from ABC’s The View will be in the kitchen soon with Harlem’s Melba Wilson, the owner of Melba’s Restaurant on 114th Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd! On July 24, Melba returns to the morning talk show where she “will cook it up” with the ladies on The View. Way to go Melba! Details are below!

20120719-083240.jpg

20120719-083248.jpg

Celebrate Bastille Day at Cedric French Bistro in Harlem

It’s a national holiday this coming Saturday, July 14 or its Independence Day all over again! Well, not exactly here in the U.S., but in France it is. It’s Bastille Day this coming Saturday and Cedric French Bistro and Bar, located at 185 St. Nicholas Avenue (at the corner of 119th Street) is celebrating the French holiday with a Brunch Party right here in Harlem. The festivities start at 11 am and Cedric’s is taking reservations for this soiree. See all the details below!

Il Forno Pizza and Salad in Harlem aiming to open in two weeks

20120709-080904.jpg
Over the Fourth of July holiday, I caught up with Henock Kejela, the owner of Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant in Harlem and the soon to be Il Forno, a new pizza and salad place, that will be located at 135 West 116th Street, between FDB and ACP Blvd. Kejela told HarlemGal Inc that he is planning on opening his second eating establishment in Harlem in about two weeks. The main product at Il Forno will be fresh pizza made in a wood burning oven.

Kejela let us come inside to take pictures of the work in progress at Il Forno in Harlem. The pizza place is going to have a clean, crisp look. The walls and floors will be predominately white with subway tile on the side walls, and black and white circle tile for the floors. The only color in the place will be on the wood burning over, which was specially made in California and shipped to Harlem.

In my view, this pizza place will be well worth checking out when it opens. The Harlem community knows Kejela can deliver. Zoma, located on the southeast corner of FDB and 113th Street, has received outstanding reviews from the media and is one of the few dining establishments in Harlem that has a Michelin rating. With those kind of credentials, I can’t wait for Il Forno in Harlem to open! Stay tuned…

20120709-081505.jpg

20120709-081513.jpg

20120709-081524.jpg

20120709-081545.jpg