241 Smith Soon To Be...

The space at 241 Smith Street has been vacant for years now. Every time we walk by we see the sign to the old restaurant, Porchetta, hanging there and wonder "what's to become of this place?" Porchetta was actually the second to last restaurant to open at 241. It went out with a bit of a scandal. Here's a snip from the NY Times report on that.

What began as a falling-out between the owner of an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn and its chef has moved from the kitchen to the courthouse, with the owner filing theft charges against the chef and the chef surrendering at a police station.The police said the chef, Jason Neroni, 30, had forged two checks to himself from the restaurant, Porchetta, on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, as he was leaving there for good.

Mr. Neroni would not comment yesterday, but a spokesman for the chef said that he had simply written out a check for his own pay, as he had done in the past without complaint from the owner, Marco Rivero. He paid himself $900, signing Mr. Rivero’s name to the checks, said the spokesman, Steven Hall.

And the last restaurant, Carniceria, was very short lived. But now the doors will be reopening, only this new place isn't exactly new. Jolie, now on Atlantic Ave, will be taking over. Hopefully they'll have more luck than their predecessors. They already have the experience in the neighborhood so they may do well there.