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COURIER L 14 IFE, MAY 29 -JUNE 4, 2020
Gage & Tollner
sees outpouring
of online support
(From left) Ben Schneider, Sohui Kim and St. John Frizell
have seen an outpouring of support. Photo by Julianne Cuba
BY JESSICA PARKS
After the coronavirus
pandemic halted the
highly-anticipated resurrection
of Downtown
Brooklyn’s Gage & Tollner,
the restaurateurs
behind the iconic eatery
have seen an outpouring
of support on their online
shop.
“It was crazy how
much people are supporting
us in the way of gift
certifi cates,” said Sohui
Kim, executive chef and
one of the restaurant’s
co-owners. “That is banking
on the future of Gage
& Tollner, so it’s just been
really wonderful.”
The revival of the
1870s-era oyster and chop
house caused a torrent of
excitement when Kim,
her husband Ben Schneider,
and their business
partner St. John
Frizell announced they
were aiming to bring the
eatery back to Fulton
Street, where it closed in
2004.
“It was just this big
thing that was building
and everybody was so excited,”
Kim said. “People
would just sort of peek
in and say ‘oh my god, is
this place coming back.”
But the triumphant
return was foiled just two
days before their scheduled
grand opening,
when the entrepreneurs
postponed their plans as
the virus began to grip
the borough. Days later,
Gov. Andrew Cuomo instituted
his ongoing stayat
home order.
“We decided to postpone
it because we knew
at that point that it was
bad enough. Not just like
a week or two ordeal, but
I am thinking if we just
wait a couple of months,
we can still have the
grander opening,” Kim
said. “We have to preserve
this because it is
history-making.”
In the two months
since the postponement,
online sales of Gage &
Tollner merchandise
and gift certifi cates
have buoyed the owners
through the incomeless
pandemic — as the inconvenient
timing prevented
them from opening for
take-out and delivery.
“I was just expecting
both my sisters and some
of my aunts and uncles
to buy a tote bag, but it
has been amazing,” Kim
said.
Their website is powered
by BentoBox, an online
hospitality platform
based in Soho, which has
lent a helping hand to
many of the city’s restaurants
through the coronavirus
pandemic.
Meanwhile, the trio
of restaurateurs are reimagining
their grand
opening considering the
new regulations in place
once eateries can begin
serving diners again —
a prospect scheduled for
phase 3 of the governor’s
reopening plan.
“When it comes to reopening
restaurants and
offi cially opening Gage
& Tollner, we do have to
play by the rules that are
so different now,” Kim
said. “We have to have a
playbook in place to safeguard
our workers as
well as the public. The
real puzzle is how do we
do this right.”
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