The Great Park Slope Battle of the Bruschetta is continuing. Hot on the heels of the opening of (the utterly wretched) Aperitivo, comes word that the space that used to be Cocotte on Fifth Avenue is going Italian. Per a post on Brooklynian
Walked by the old Cocotte space today and spoke to the owner and chef of the new restaurant going in there, they were airing the place out and planning renovation. North to South Italian cuisine, opening probably 2 months away. About time we got rid of that boarded up window!
Another poster offered up a list of the Slope Italians. It is long, and not necessarily distinguished in all cases:
Al Di La Trattoria, La Villa, Peperoncino, Scottadito, Sette, Sotto Voce, Tonio’s, Trattoria Mangia, Trattoria Mulino, Tutta Pasta, Scalino, Aperitivo and “the restaurant that must not be named.”
We’re guessing the latter is Aunt Suzie’s? We’ll also add Anthony’s in the South Slope to the list as well as Bar Toto, although Bar Tono is too far out of range, being at Third Avenue and Ninth Street, and having that particularly territory all to itself.
12 responses so far ↓
1 Patrick Nielsen Hayden // Jun 30, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Why must Aunt Suzie’s not be named?
2 thwarted // Jun 30, 2008 at 2:02 pm
What the heck happened to Cocotte? It was always jam-packed when we went there.
3 DW // Jun 30, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Naw, it’s the infamous Elementi, whose owners allegedly threatened a message board poster and their employer some time back.
4 sloopy // Jun 30, 2008 at 4:53 pm
*Another* one? One of the 2 spaces being renovated on 5th b/w 2nd and 3rd is also going to be Italian, and I think it’s owned by the same people as the horrendous Aperitivo.
Ugh, I’m moving out of this block in the nick of time.
5 Mr. M. // Jun 30, 2008 at 6:12 pm
No surprise that Aperitivo sucks. Isn’t it owned by the same people who own the god awful Sotto Voce? My wife and I ate there on our first night in the nabe and it was pretty sub-par.
6 slopeJack // Jun 30, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Aunt Suzie’s must not be named because the food is wretched.
7 alyssa // Jun 30, 2008 at 8:03 pm
the only restaurant that isn’t allowed to be named, on brooklynian, is stone park.
8 AD // Jun 30, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Bar Toto is on 6th, not 3rd and must be named.
9 ken // Jul 1, 2008 at 6:30 am
And do not forget AOC on the corner of 5th and Garfield whose manager takes the prize for being supreme ahole. And there is already a consensus in the neighborhood regarding him. We want the tables removed from the street NOW
10 billle // Jul 1, 2008 at 10:05 am
The only restaurant/bar/lounge that has opened recently that has some originality to the concept and the food and drink is Aji on 9th street between 4th and 5th Ave. The slant is Peruvian but the smallish menu waves to other cuisines as well. But.. no Italian.. no red sauce anywhere!
11 jason // Jul 7, 2008 at 7:42 pm
i think its time for the eater deathwatch committee to take a closer peak at some of these horrible, half assed restaurants.
12 anonymous // Nov 17, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Maybe I am naive, but wouldn’t someone thinking of investing, say, a quarter of a mil on opening a new restaurant want to do what is affectionately called “due diligence?” If I were thinking of opening an Italian joint in Park Slope, I’d survey the existing locations, see how full they are, compare my menu to theirs and, then and only then, make a decision about my location.
I passed Primo Atto last week and looked at the menu. Looks like you really can’t get out of there for less than $100 a couple. Some nice selections, but really nothing unique. No wine list in window, so I can’t judge cost/value/selection.
The bottom line is that we’re going to see the much-heralded shakedown in Park Slope restaurants. Those that survive will be the tastiest, fairest priced and most guest-friendly.
Al di La and Applewood top my list. Others will have their favorites, but look for several Italian and Japanese joints to be boarded up in the next several months.