Brooklyn Heights

b.good, eatery with the ‘human touch’ to replace Grand Canyon Restaurant, Brooklyn Heights standby

Opening in November

July 21, 2015 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
A restaurant with the “human touch” – b.good – will be replacing the shuttered Grand Canyon Restaurant at 141 Montague St. in Brooklyn Heights. Photo by Mary Frost
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A restaurant that makes fast-food “real” – b.good, based out of Boston – will be replacing the now-closed Grand Canyon restaurant at 141 Montague St. in Brooklyn Heights.

b.good’s owner Anthony Ackil, part of a 15-year team with his lifelong best friend Jon Olinto, told the Brooklyn Eagle that the restaurant sells dishes like kale and quinoa bowls, “tons of salads,” chicken sandwiches and burgers made with humanely-raised beef.

b.good dishes up seasonal specials as well, such as blueberry smoothies during blueberry season, Ackil said. Grilled asparagus is served in the spring, corn during the summer and cauliflower in the fall.

 “You know where the food comes from,” Ackil said on Tuesday. “We search out small local farms and use seasonal ingredients. Right now we’re sourcing upstate New York and Brooklyn.

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“Everything is real food, not a fad,” he emphasized. “No chemicals, very clean. You know exactly how it’s made.” Ackil added that the partners had created a place “where you can feel good about the food you eat.”

The eatery will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Ackil expects to open around November. They’re doing “lots of work in the space,” he said.

There are 20 other b.goods, but this is the partners’ first one in New York City. Ackil says he loves the Brooklyn Heights area, and both partners will be present at the store’s opening.

They expect to hire 25 to 30 employees, Ackil said.

The building housing the restaurant is owned by the estate of Maria Foffe, daughter of Alfred Foffe, famous for serving wild game in his upscale restaurant Maison Foffe, at 155 Montague St.

On Tuesday, the executor of the estate provided a statement to the Eagle:

“The Executor of the Estate of Maria Foffe was thrilled to continue the Foffe family’s food legend on Montague Street with b.good. b.good is a family friendly, healthy food choice with locally sourced, organic ingredients, delivered in the 21st century way — fast. Those old enough to remember “Game Night” at Foffe’s where the family’s fall hunting-harvest was served to guests will no doubt appreciate this new restaurant’s commitment to bring only the most fresh ingredients from local farms to their tables.”

This week, patrons of shuttered Grand Canyon said they will miss the old standby’s reliable food and comfortable atmosphere, with familiar faces at the counter.

On Tuesday, a young man looked a bit lost as he stood in front of the restaurant. Inside, chairs could be seen stacked upside down on the tables.

“You’re not going to believe this,” he said into his cell phone. “The diner closed down.”

Operating in Brooklyn for 32 years, neighbors say owner Frank Konidaris decided it was time to retire.

Commenters on the Brooklyn Heights Blog waxed nostalgic about the former restaurant.

“I’ll miss weekend breakfast at the counter. Always a nice, comfortable place to relax and get a decent meal,” wrote one.

Another commented, “The best cream of chicken soup — thick, lots of chicken — on Sunday in the wintertime.”

A long-time resident wrote, “One would always see familiar faces, often old-timers like us, eating there on a regular basis. Now what do we do? Yet another piece of the ‘neighborhood’ gone.”

Another old-timer, however, remembered that Grand Canyon itself had replaced some neighborhood favorites.

“Yep, Grand Canyon replaced ‘My Little Chickadee,’ a grilled chicken joint; before that it was a place called ‘The Hamburger Stop,’” he wrote.

 


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