At his corner storefront in Yonkers, Frankie Goris has a newcomer”™s view of both “the good and the bad” of the downtown where he and a partner opened their Cuban restaurant, La Bella Havana, nine months ago.
Down Main Street to the west is the redeveloped Hudson River waterfront ending at City Pier, anchored by one of Westchester”™s top restaurants, Peter X. Kelly”™s X20 Xaviars on the Hudson. Across Warburton Avenue and up Main Street to the east is Getty Square, with its blocks of discount stores, bodegas and fast-food shops, salons and mom-and-pop stores, where large-scale retail and residential redevelopment has stalled since the recession. The restaurant sits at the corner of two Yonkers: the city”™s 21st-century future and its 20th-century past.
Coming from the Bronx, where he owns Ibiza Lounge, a club on West 242nd Street, and is a real estate agent, Goris was impressed by the construction and renovations downtown. On his business block, the 66 Main St. apartment lofts and Zuppa Restaurant and Lounge have opened. Further west on Van Der Donck Street are the Hudson Park residential towers and Dolphin, a seafood restaurant and Hudson Park tenant near City Pier.
“In 10 years they”™ve done this?” Goris said. “I can”™t wait for the next 10 years.”
He and his restaurant partner, Jason Adolphus, last year signed a 10-year lease at 35 Main St.
Looking to start his own business after 16 years in corporate information technology, Adolphus was shown the available space in Yonkers by Goris. “When I walked into this place, I kind of felt it,” said Adolphus. “I went with my gut. My gut told me, this can work.”
La Bella Havana opened last spring in the former space of Belle Havana. The partners replaced the former restaurant owner”™s French-Cuban fusion menu with traditional Cuban cuisine. They found they also had a reputation to displace at their restaurant corner.
“It was quite a challenge to bring back previous customers to this building,” said Adolphus, a former information technology manager at Morgan Stanley. “We got a lot of complaints from those that used to come here during the previous ownership.”
“The main ingredient in our success is consistency,” he said. “The food, the service, the hours of operation.” The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week.
Opening a restaurant in the current economy? “Surprisingly, it”™s been OK,” said Adolphus. “I”™ve been able to pay the bills. It”™s an ebb and flow but over the last nine months it”™s been continuous growth. It”™s been mostly positive.”
In late October, the restaurant was boosted by a favorable dining review and “worth it” rating in The New York Times. “There was an immediate influx,” said Adolphus. “To this day, we still see quite a few unfamiliar faces” drawn to the Yonkers restaurant by the Times review.
The Yonkers Hispanic Chamber of Commerce awarded La Bella Havana”™s co-owners its Business of the Year award for 2011. The restaurant in September was chosen best happy-hour place in the Yonkers Chamber of Commerce Best of Yonkers survey.
The partners said the Yonkers Downtown/Waterfront Business Improvement District has been very helpful in introducing them to the Yonkers community. “The business community in Yonkers is very different than the other places I”™ve been at,” said Goris. Downtown, “They really try to make the merchants aware of what”™s going on.”
La Bella Havana and another ethnic addition in 2011 to downtown Yonkers, Khangri Japanese and Asian Bistro at 22 Warburton Ave., will participate this month in the downtown BID”™s inaugural International Restaurant Week. From Jan. 21 through Jan. 29, at least seven participating restaurants will honor 20 percent discount vouchers on lunches and 25 percent discounts on dinners. Alcoholic drinks, gratuities and taxes are not included.
Discount vouchers and instructions are available online at YonkersRestaurantWeek.com.
For restaurants and downtown merchants, “January is a quiet time,” said Stephen Sansone, executive director of the Yonkers downtown BID. “It”™s time for us to step up to the plate and do something for them.”
He said the restaurants will have ethnically flavored musical performances, from a Latin harpist and Latin jazz to a strolling Italian accordionist, as part of International Restaurant Week.
“Hopefully from here it will grow” in future years, Sansone said.
