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!
Posted in Bars, business, Cedric French Bistro and Bar Harlem, drinks, Events, food, Harlem, restaurants
Tagged 10026, 185 St. Nicholas Ave, Bastille Day, brunch party, Cedric, Cedric Bistro, Cedric French Bistro and Bar Harlem, dining out, eating out, french bistro, french holiday, Harlem, Le Bilboquet, Le Bilboquet's, new restaurants, Phillip Delgrange, restaurants, travel, vacation
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…
Posted in 116th Street, business, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, Il Forno Pizza and Salad Harlem, restaurant row, restaurants, Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant
Tagged 10026, Food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, harlem community, Henock Kejela, Il Forno, new pizza, Pizza, restaurant row, restaurants, travel, vacation, West 116th Street, Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant
More than 12 months ago, the northwest corner on 116th Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd in Harlem was an abandoned gas station locked up in jail-like bars. Does anyone remember how this corner looked back in the day? Fast forward to today, this corner in Harlem is now a bustling section, decorated with red outdoor umbrellas, filled daily with Harlemites, who are dining inside or outside, and it’s now the permanent home of Harlem Tavern, the second beer garden to open in South Harlem after bier international.
Can’t remember how Harlem Tavern came together and reached its one-year milestone? No worries. Let’s wish Harlem Tavern happy anniversary by reflecting back in photos and with some popular blog posts. Cheers!
Harlem couple invest in where they live creating Harlem Tavern-August 20, 2010
Inside Harlem Tavern-June 12, 2011
An exclusive look at Harlem Tavern’s menu-June 12, 2011
Harlem Tavern goes unisex with you know what!-June 17, 2011
A crowd descends on Harlem Tavern opening night-July 2, 2011
Posted in Bars, business, drinks, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, Harlem Tavern, restaurant row, restaurants
Tagged 10026, Beer garden, bier international, dining and drinking, Frederick Douglass Boulevard, Harlem, Harlem Tavern, Photos by HarlemGal, restaurant row, restaurants, travel, West 116th Street
Harlem Food Bar is now offering lunch! HFB opened for lunch yesterday, June 26! No signs of the lunch menu yet on this end. If anyone gets their grubby little hands on it, feel free to post it here!
Also, Harlem Food Bar will start offering brunch this coming weekend. From 11 am to 3 pm, brunch will offer carrot cake pancakes, red-velvet waffles, liters of mixed drinks (for the table) and more. So check out HFB’s brunch this weekend or try them out for lunch as well!
Posted in Bars, drinks, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, Harlem Food Bar, restaurant row, restaurants
Tagged 10026, 2100 Frederick Douglass Blvd., carrot cake, colorful mural, dining out, Entertainment, Food, food bar, Harlem, Harlem Food Bar, hfb, lunch menu, memorial day weekend, menu offerings, mixed drinks, new restaurants, outdoor seating, restaurant row, restaurants, seating space, sidewalk seating, The Gateway Tower, travel, vacation, wine bar
I went by Frederick Cafe Bistro this morning (June 22) to get an iced latte and a blueberry muffin, and found out they take credit cards as another form of payment. I assumed the cafe only took cash because it is under the same ownership as bier international, which I believe they only take cash, so this was a nice surprise this morning to find out I can use my credit card at Frederick Cafe Bistro!
If you haven’t stopped by Frederick Cafe Bistro, it’s on the southeast corner of FDB and 114th Street! They offer delicious coffee, pastries and pressed sandwiches!
Posted in bier international, business, drinks, food, Frederick Cafe Bistro Harlem, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, restaurant row, restaurants
Tagged 10026, 2104 Frederick Douglass Blvd., bier international, blueberry muffin, cafe bistro, coffee drink, cold sandwiches, delicious coffee, Food, Frederick Cafe Bistro Harlem, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, restaurants, travel
If you were walking along Frederick Douglass Blvd. in Harlem this past weekend, you may have noticed that Harlem’s newest eatery, Harlem Food Bar, located on FDB between 113th and 114th Street, opened up its outdoor seating space. Both Saturday and Sunday, patron’s gladly filled those seats from what I witnessed. Probably because the weather was descent and the food is good and reasonably priced.
Also from the photo above, it looks like HFB seating space could come out on the sidewalk a little farther. See the white chalk mark to the left? It appears that HFB was a bit modest with setting out their seats.
By the way, have you dined at HFB yet? If so, tell us what you think. To read more about Harlem Food Bar, click here or check out their Facebook page.
Posted in Bars, drinks, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, Harlem Food Bar, restaurant row, restaurants
Tagged 10026, 2100 Frederick Douglass Blvd., colorful mural, dining out, Entertainment, Food, food bar, Harlem, Harlem Food Bar, hfb, memorial day weekend, menu offerings, new restaurants, outdoor seating, restaurant row, restaurants, seating space, sidewalk seating, The Gateway Tower, travel, wine bar
It has been really fun and exciting lately to blog about some of the recent openings happening in Harlem, such as The Corner Social, Harlem Food Bar and Frederick Cafe Bistro. All these places have opened with such positive fanfare and the management behind these establishments are a delight to work with. However, there is one dining establishment on Frederick Douglass Blvd that is getting ready to open and I am finding it difficult to rave about. I am contemplating not evening dining there. Why? You may or may not know that there’s been an ongoing conflict between the owner of Jado Sushi, which is located in The Douglass Condo retail space (2118 FDB), and the owner of Land Yoga, which has been established in The Douglass for almost a year now and is Jado’s neighbor to the right.
According to online reports, Land Yoga in Harlem has been respectfully asking Jado Sushi, which is owned by the same person who owns The Winery on 116th Street, to kindly sound proof the restaurant so that it does not affect the environment of the yoga studio. Those multiple requests to Jado Sushi have been ignored to date, according to Land Yoga. HarlemGal Inc contacted The Winery asking for comment about Land Yoga’s request to sound proof and they did not respond.
Another reason I am blogging about this now is ’cause multiple readers have asked, why have you not mentioned anything about Jado Sushi in Harlem on your blog? Well, this is why. I am aware of the conflict going on between Jado and Land Yoga in Harlem.
For conversation sake, I have even asked Harlem business owner(s) about this and most have informally commented it is the responsibility of Jado Sushi to sound proof the place since they are coming into a retail area that has already been established, apartments above the Jado space will more than likely complain about the noise below so it’s best to sound proof now rather than later and its the politically correct thing to do. Most of the businesses on FDB support each other. Yesterday, I read that the owner of Melba’s stopped by Harlem Food Bar recently to show her support. That’s classy!
Personally, I am not clear on why Jado Sushi would not want to sound proof the place now versus wait until later like when more 
complaints potentially come in or this get’s escalated into a potential legal matter. Then again, maybe it’s not Jado’s responsibility to sound proof their place or is it? Does anyone have any thoughts on this subject? Should Jado Sushi in Harlem sound proof its place to accommodate Land Yoga?
And as for dining at Jado Sushi, at the moment I don’t want to even think about going there when it opens knowing this conflict is nowhere near a resolution and that I might be interrupting someone’s yoga practice-if Jado is not sound proofed. It doesn’t feel right as a long time practicing yogi. That’s another reason why I can’t get excited about this place and starting to believe that Jado Sushi just might be starting off in Harlem on the wrong foot leading to an uneventful opening.
Posted in business, Community, Corner Social, drinks, entertainment, food, Frederick Cafe Bistro Harlem, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, Harlem Food Bar, health and wellness, Melba's Restaurant Harlem, New York, New York City, NYC, restaurant row, restaurants
Tagged 10026, dining out, Harlem, healthy-living, Jado Sushi, Land Yoga, restaurant row, restaurants, sound proofing, sushi bar, yoga
In April, EveryBlock.com partnered with DonorsChoose.org to help support 
public schools in New York City and four other cities. One of the schools to benefit from this campaign is located in Harlem.
Close to $2000 has been raised for NYC and part of the proceeds will go to Harlem Link Charter School. Click here to see the projects and schools supported.
And if you’re wondering how this money was raised? It was simple. For every new user who signed up for EveryBlock.com in April, they donated $1 to a DonorsChoose.org classroom fundraiser in that person’s city. Now that’s putting social networking to good use! Congrats to Harlem Link Charter School and EveryBlock!
Posted in Community, education, Harlem, kids, spending
Tagged 10026, donorschoose org, education, EveryBlock.com, Harlem, schools in new york
Harlem Food Bar is officially opening this evening (May 25), it’s a soft launch, and HarlemGal has the menus. Take a look! The most expensive items are $18 and that’s for steak or salmon. The shared plates run from $5 to $8.
As for drinks, prices will start at $7 a glass and will range to $24 for a carafe of wine. The most expensive drink item is French sparkling champagne for $85.
Overall, the menu is inexpensive, which adds to the price point diversity along restaurant row, i.e. Frederick Douglass Blvd. All the items are offered at modest rates and my bet is Harlemites are going to respond well!
Posted in Bars, business, drinks, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, Harlem Food Bar, New York, New York City, NYC, restaurant row, restaurants
Tagged 10026, 2100 Frederick Douglass Blvd., colorful mural, dining out, Entertainment, Food, food bar, Harlem, Harlem Food Bar, hfb, memorial day weekend, menu offerings, new restaurants, restaurant row, restaurants, The Gateway Tower, wine bar
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