Hudson Reporter Archive

Craft beers, kids’ books, and cookies

From the signs and construction vehicles around town, many new offices and restaurants are gearing up to open in Hoboken in the second half of the year, including an eatery near the Viaduct serving 60 craft beers, a Greek bakery, a place that delivers fresh cookies, and new real estate offices.

The Reporter walked around town to find out which businesses are opening in the near future and which have opened recently. If you have one we missed, email us at editorial @hudsonreporter.com.

Uptown

For some time, residents have awaited the opening of gourmet food chain Trader Joe’s at 14th Street and Willow Avenue. Company spokesman Allison Mochizuki said this past week that the new location is scheduled to open during “the first half of 2017.”

The new location has 11,700 square feet of space and will offer a wide selection of grocery needs to the public including an array of domestic and imported foods and beverages, including artisan breads, Arabica bean coffees, deli items, vitamins, and more, according to a release issued last week.

Area residents should expect to receive copies of the Trader Joe’s “Fearless Flyer” in their mailboxes once the store opens. Each newsletter highlights a selection of products.

A block south, at the site of the former Smoke and Barrel BBQ at Thirteenth Street and Willow Avenue, a new restaurant called The Shepherd and The Knucklehead will open the first week of September.

Joseph Schiavo, one of the restaurant’s proprietors, said it will serve steaks, burgers, fish, tacos, sliders, and 60 craft beers in a space with 25 televisions.

There’s already a location in Haledon, N.J. The second location has been a three-year endeavor by the restaurateurs.

“It’s a great market uptown,” Schiavo said. “There are a lot of residents, and I think it’s going to be a home run.”

He added, “We bricked it and replaced the light fixtures and had a custom wall of 60 craft beers on tap built for the space.”

The Urban Coalhouse Pizza and Bar is currently under construction and is at 116 14th St. at the location of the former Puerto Spain, a Spanish restaurant that closed its doors in September of 2015.

The restaurant did not respond to a call and email by press time.

A block up from Trader Joe’s, Chef Anthony Pino, who owns Anthony David’s and Bin 14 in Hoboken, will introduce the upscale Porter Collins restaurant in mid-October or early November, featuring modern American cuisine with organic ingredients. Larger than his small restaurants in town, it’s being created on the site of a former auto body shop.

It’s not only new restaurants that are arriving uptown. Hudson Place Realty opened their second location on 14th and Bloomfield streets in March of this year. Broker Jon Sisti opened this location, which primarily deals with residential real estate, because he believed the uptown neighborhood was underserved.

“The uptown neighborhood has grown …and it’s underserved, said Sisti. “We’ve tapped in on a clientele who may not have found us at our downtown location. This new office is set up like a gallery and is a very inviting space for new and old clients.”

Several new developments will lure new residents who need services and food. The Harlow, located on 13th street and Willow Avenue, is a new luxury rental building that offers studios through three bedroom apartments. The building plans to open in October.

Middle of town

Dilli Junction will be opening its doors at 514 Washington St. this week, according to one of the owners, Charusmita Deb.

She hopes the restaurant, which will serve authentic Indian street food, will open on Monday Aug. 15, which is national Independence Day for India.

“My husband and I are from New Delhi with our roots are from Bengali,” she said, “so the kind of food we are offering is authentic day-to-day Indian street food, which I have been craving for…with a lot of tantalizing flavors.”

The space became available in June when the Fresh Tortilla Grill closed its doors.

“My husband went to Stevens [Institute],” Deb said. “And when I got married to him he took me to Hoboken for a date and I fell in love with it. It’s on the Hudson, with beautiful views and night life. I remember him telling me that he wants to open a restaurant there.”

Deb says that their primary demographic will be the young people in Hoboken “who enjoy going out and eating out” and Stevens students, as many of them are from India.

In addition to businesses soon to come, some opened in the last few months. One block down, the real estate office of Engel & Völkers has opened at 407 Washington St., the former site of Empire Real Estate. Jane Estes and her late partner Nicholas Costantino, who passed away on Aug 4 from a long battle with Cystic Fibrosis, decided to buy the Engel & Völkers franchise. Engel & Völkers is an international company based out of Germany.

Estes said that the move was really Costantino’s “baby” and she plans to continue in her current role as broker in honor of his legacy.

The real estate company, which deals with both commercial and residential properties, has expanded by at least half a dozen agents since reopening its doors under the new brand in October, according to Estes. The company now has 47 agents and is actively looking for more.

Estes says that the global presence has been a huge benefit of joining the brand.

“People who were at a recent street fair and from Europe recognized the name and were speaking with us,” she said.

Estes plans to continue with the company’s charitable work, including an annual gala for Cystic Fibrosis at the W Hotel this coming October. Over the last few years the gala has raised over $80,000. 

Also nearby, in the old Subway location at 418 Washington St., a small eatery is currently under construction. The signage says it will be Grubbs Take Away. The restaurant did not respond to email or phone calls by press time.

Downtown and waterfront

Frankie and Ava’s Italian Eatery opened late last year at 208 Washington St. and since that time has served many customers, according to the owner Frank DiGiacamo, a 16-year Hoboken resident.

The eatery is named after his two children. It focuses on specialty sandwiches and pizza, but has a wide menu including pastas, soups, salads, and appetizers.

What about dessert? Insomnia Cookies will arrive at 56 Newark St., which used to house Remax Gold Cost Real Estate. The site is currently undergoing construction.

The store will serve a large variety of cookies to locals as well as several ice cream options. It will be open every day from 11 to 3 a.m. with delivery from 12 p.m. to 3 a.m., according to the company’s website. This will be the company’s first New Jersey location.

Want to read while you nosh? Donna Garban, one of the owners for Little City Books on First and Bloomfield streets, is opening a children’s bookstore next door.

This new store will allow Little City Books to expand its children’s sections as well as their adult section by increasing their space from 1,200 feet to 2,000 feet.

Garban and her partner Kate Jacobs opened the initial location last year to not only provide books but also a “cultural center,” according to Garban.

Garban said that they hope to open the new location, which used to be Luxe Face & Body, in early to mid September, as it is still undergoing construction.

Further west on First Street, Pavana Yoga opened its doors for the first time last month at 251 First St. Owner Danielle Maoli had seen a need for a downtown yoga studio in Hoboken that didn’t offer Hot Yoga.

The 1,400 square foot studio offers a variety of classes and Maoli said she is planning to offer more as attendance keeps growing.

Currently the studio has about three to six classes a day from Restorative Yoga and Vinyasa to Dharma and Meditation.

The yoga enthusiast said she “has loved it ever since she was in high school and did it with [her] father.”

She said that the Hoboken community has been incredibly supportive and “everyone loves the studio.”

Also downtown, New York Urban Funding opened in March in Suite B of 80 Park Ave. This company specializes in project development and funding.

One of the principal owners, Chris Lama, explained that the company “wears many hats” as they will potentially loan to developers with underfunded projects and act as equity to “fill the void to complete the project.”

NY Urban Funding decided to open in Hoboken as they have several investments in the area, including 411 Monroe St., which is in development.

Meanwhile, on the site of the longtime Von Holland Deli at 155 Third St., a new restaurant called Tutta Pesca is under construction.

Tutta Pesca will offer Italian and American seafood dishes for lunch and dinner including a raw bar, seafood salads, fried seafood, pastas, and grilled and steamed seafood.

The location will also sell wild caught fresh and frozen seafood in its first floor fish market as well.

Mike Cara, owner of the restaurant, says he plans to open after labor day.

“I know seafood, and who has the quality seafood,” said Cara. “I have been in the fish business my whole life.”

Cara worked in seafood transport for most of his life.

Cara who lives on Bloomfield Street said “I always wanted to open a restaurant. I like fish and I like talking to people.”

Waterfront

Closer to the waterfront, a new Greek restaurant and bakery plans to open its doors in mid-October, according to Yiannis Voyazoglou, one of the restaurant’s owners who is from Greece. The restaurant will be called Greek from Greece.

It’s currently under construction in the Waterfront Corporate Center on the intersection of Second and River streets.

Voyazoglou said that Hoboken does not have enough Mediterranean food and that they are hoping to fill the need of residents and those who work in the area.

The restaurant will offer Greek pastries and desserts as well as lunch items like spinach pie. Ingredients for the food will be flown in from Greece.

Marilyn Baer can be reached at editorial@hudsonreporter.com

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