At Least It's Not A Ginger

Garfield's On Fourth
Originally uploaded by Gringcorp.

The last few weekends I've been taunted by a phantasm as I gaze out of my apartment's window. Down on Fourth Avenue a brightly-lit sign appears sporting the moniker "Garfield's".

It was first pointed out to me two weeks back by guests at our Superbowl party. I saw it, but by the next morning when it was time to trudge down to the Union Street R train station it was gone, locked up behind heavy metal shutters. I wondered for a while whether it was one of the sleepy social clubs of Gowanus, opening up at erratic hours for a dwindling clientèle, though the bright lights seemed to dispel that notion.

Waddling back from Cocotte [UPDATE: We should now be calling it the erstwhile Cocotte] on Friday, I saw it again, and this time I was at street level. It would be mine. Moreover, there was a gaggle of people outside, and loud music coming from within. Abandoning Mrs Cutesome to the vicissitudes of my building's lobby I strode over to report.

I encountered there a man and a woman smoking cigarettes, who stared at me with an air of amusement, and informed me that the restaurant would be open in a month's time. They did not venture any more information about cuisine, the owner, and whether it would cater much to cab drivers.

From a peek inside I saw a lot of bare wood, moderately dim lighting and a lot of space. It reminded me of nothing so much as La Villa, so I'm expecting an unpretentious family joint to sprout up in the space forthwith.

It is, I guess, a pleasant sign that people are still trying to bring businesses to the stretch, although Fourth Avenue, like Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, has a little too much car traffic and a little too little foot traffic to turn into a bustling restaurant row. I guess the guys moving into all those condos right on Fourth will be happy to see it happen, though I think the owner will need lot of patience while the new buildings fill up.

I'm doubting, though, it's going to appeal to the Sheep Station/Pacific Standard crowd.