BY BEN VERDE
A new restaurant in
Prospect Heights is nearing
completion after months
of construction during the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the
restaurateur behind the operation
is fi nally gearing up to
welcome patrons to the Dean
Street eatery.
“We’re very excited to get
open,” said owner Randi Lee.
Leland Eating and Drinking
House, at the corner of Underhill
Avenue, will be Lee’s
fi rst solo venture after working
in the restaurant industry
for 25 years — and getting
the joint open has proven to be
more of a struggle than he ever
could have imagined.
The food maestro closed
on a lease for the storefront in
February, just one month before
the pandemic washed over
American shores and halted
all non-essential construction
— causing Lee to consider
abandoning the project as the
site sat unfi nished, and construction
COURIER L 6 IFE, SEPT. 25-OCT. 1, 2020
crews were barred
from working.
Instead, the crafty entrepreneur
took matters into his
own hands, utilizing his background
in design — working
with his fi ancé and friend to
transform the former gastropub
into a shiny new neighborhood
eatery. The makeshift
crew worked tirelessly to refi nish
the fl oors, lay tile, restore
Randi Lee and his fi ancè Jeanette Zinno at Leland Eating and Drinking House. Photo by Ben Verde
the original bar, and craft new
tables out of sheets of oak.
Now, the trio is working
on the fi nishing touches — installing
an awning out front,
and new windows inside with
ventilation in mind for indoor
dining — with the hopes of
welcoming guests in October,
four months after the original
planned opening date.
The renovation is being partially
crowdfunded through
GoFundMe, which has currently
raised $25,000 towards a
goal of $30,000.
Many Prospect Heights residents
have contributed to the
fundraising effort, and locals
have been stopping by regularly
to tell Lee how excited
they are to have the storefront
occupied again after two years
of it sitting empty.
“As far as having a nice bite
and a good pint or glass of wine,
there’s not a lot of places,” Lee
said of the immediate area. “I
think we’re positioned to be in
between two neighborhoods.”
Lee is planning a menu of
“New York Mediterannean”
style cuisine, meaning Mediterranean
dishes made with
ingredients from local farms,
fi shmongers, and butchers.
“We’re focusing on the
small artisanal ingredients
at fi rst,” Lee said. “Every dish
has to have a story…It has to
come from somewhere, it has
to have a face behind it, it has
to have our hands touching
it, otherwise it’s just putting
food on a plate.”
Making it
through
Prospect Heights eatery built
during COVID nears completion