But first. The Wall Street Journal takes a look today at the recent closures of some East Village vegetarian eateries, such as Curly's and Quantum Leap, as well as the financial struggles of Kate's Joint on Avenue B. The cause, according to some diners and restaurant owners? "Rising rents were a factor in a least some of these cases, but so too were the shifting tastes of young hipsters away from vegetarianism."
Plus, are places like Kate's all that faboo looking to the foody set?
Per the article: "Kate's Joint looks increasingly out of place in a world where young diners flock to meat-centric restaurants such as Meatball Shop and Porchetta."
Which is one reason why Kate's owner Kate Halpern contemplates adding the meat to the menu. She told the Journal: "I hate to admit it, but put bacon on it, and they will come."
As for adding meat products, she has discussed it. She met with resistance from some longtime patrons. Plus, "she said she would need a financial partner to build a kitchen that would allow the restaurant to prepare meat and vegetarian entrees separately."
The article also quotes local blogger EV Grieve, who works "farm to table" into a quote. (Woo! Shot!)
Previously on EV Grieve:
Save Kate's Joint on Avenue B
40 comments:
I kind of feel bad for Kates Joint, they seem deluded. The reason they are having trouble is that there are tons of places nearby to get better food, veg or otherwise. I dont eat much meat, but I rarely eat at veg restaurants. Some of my favorite options in the area you ask?
Masala Walla
Frankies 17 (RIP)
Northern Spy
As if Kate's take on vegetarian fare wasn't unhealthy enough, they're going to throw some bacon on it? I'll pass.
Food + Bacon = Better Food
So instead of improving its sub-Morningstar Farm vegetarian menu, Kate's is just gonna throw in the towel and put bacon on it.
I don't feel bad for these people. I really don't care if Kate's closes.
Vegetarians aren't vanishing from the East Village. Kate's has other problems: half the space was turned into a bar, and if you can't make a bar work on that strip, I don't know what the problem is.
As if bacon is going to turn her business around? Someone needs to send Tabatha over there to take away her keys.
I agree with you guys. I used to be a 'regular' meat eater but as I've gotten older (Am now 30+) I've looked at ways of reducing meat intake and try not to eat it more than 1/day.
I feel like many of my peers are of a similar mind
David
I have to agree - the problem with kate's is not the lack of meat, its the lack of focus - and hate to say it, quality. I live around the corner and don't eat meat. I don't eat at Kate's either because the menu reads like a frat-hole snack joint. Buffalo tofu wings? I mean why bother with a healthy diet if you're gonna drown your tofu in sugar, salt & fats? And let's not even go to the rather lax service and morbid staff... Kate has bigger issues than a simple lack of bacon. She should take a few clues from Dirt Candy and the other successful veggie friendly joints.
BACON is not the answer, Kate. Split up the space and rent the other half out, only THEN will your restaurant appear full and you can pay your back rent without begging for it. Fire your staff that everyone complains about, shorten your menu and please please please clean up that bathroom. Can you do it Kate?
omg the places to get affordable (not even cheap, AFFORDABLE) lunch and dinner have been evaporating so fast around here, it is not even funny! and as a vegatarian (WHICH IS A PRO-PLANET stance, btw) i am extremely upset to see these do-gooder neighborhood vets getting squeezed out by ALL THE BULLSH*T that's squeezing in to the east village. this used to be a politically and artistically important neighborhood that pioneered social progress, for godssake. now all we have is a bunch of entitled, morally bankrupt YUPPIES all HOPPED UP ON BRUNCH BRUCH COCKTAILS BRUNCH DUANE READE COCTAILS CAPITAL ONE BRUCNH. PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!
also - kate's has the BEST nachos in the whole neighborhood (especially after losing life cafe, weep, weep....)
I am vegan, and live only a block away from Kate's, and although I was a regular 15 years ago, have to agree with the above comments. All of the "meat" places that are doing well is not due to the fact they serve meat... it's due to the fact that people demand a higher quality of food since the 90's when Kate's opened. I don't see many changes in the menu in all these years. Veg comfort foods were exciting in that time because they were hard to get. Now that vegetarianism is MORE POPULAR, and people are more health conscious they crave not just McDonald's done veggie style, but healthy "real" quality food. All of the places who are thriving are selling that. Look at Angelica's menu to see the difference in why they are so busy. Keep up with the times, Kate, and they are not bacon.
Also, what about Westville? If not veggie aren't they at least 'vegetable driven' and that place always seems packed
David again
It is said that fat is flavor.
Though NOT.
I know of at least one provider of vegs to K'sJ, some of the mot astonishing produce and it is driven to her kitchen door. So no lack of good eating.
The issue is that the marketers of meat are that much more insidious, that much more persistent.
They've the money, don't we know.
While they probably aren't hawking to the east village crowd, they sure as H are to the gourmand chefs and the foodies are sheeple. So, one more trounce of eliminating growth hormones, heart disease and any other number of we told you sos.
i agree with kim davis and the rest of the commenters who left similar opinions
Vegetarian food is yucky and unhealthy. That is why this place is going out of business.
It is interesting reading these comments. I hope Kate is looking at them and will take them to heart. There is a lot to learn from these comments and the others on previous posts, and it boils down to the real issue being the menu and the staff. If she can come up with the money to pay her back rent, she needs to address these two issues immediately to keep her business going. I am sure people, especially neighborhood people who like to support local businesses, would give Kate's Joint another try if she could assure them she has listened and made changes. She is in a similar spot the Old Devil Moon crew found themselves in. That place was amazing for years, but no one in management was paying attention the last few years, and the quality of the food went downhill, and the waitstaff, while nice, was slow and incompetent.
Westville is also a good example, as noted above, and has an awesome waitstaff as do the other places I mentioned. And lets not forget Snack Dragon, quinoa and beans, great veg snack.
To me, meat is a once or twice a week thing, but quality, semi healthy food is an every day thing. Im not preaching, Im a pretty disgusting human, but thats generally the way I eat.
Hopefully they sort themselves out and thrive, and if not, something good comes in, its a great space.
Exactly, Anon 12:59! Even medical professionals are now realizing they had it in reverse, and it's high carbs, not meat, that's the real danger to health.
I agree with the poster who mentioned the great service at Westville. The staff at that restaurant is so personable and competent. They really make you feel welcome. Beyond that, the menus is great, the food is consistently prepared, and there are choices for people who eat meat and people who don't. It is easy to get complacent when you've run a place for years, and given how competitive the restaurant market is in the East Village these days, you have got to stay on top of your game. I hope Kate's Joint can pull through.
I'll gladly take the homestyle kate's over any bullshit foodie place or chain that would be bound to open here if kate's left.
I'd like to know that Kate's stays alive.
Learning that there are complaints about servers and possibly unpalatable food is sad. Tho rather silly to condemn vegetarian eating, wouldn't you say?
Kate will read the comments. Things can change.
However. The tide has really turned in the E.Vil. In the corner between Loisada and NYU territory. The area around TSP. Where a lot of the gardens are.
I think that the area has jumped the shark.
So much more to say, but best to get to Kate's and have a celebratory meal.
Support her business and look around you. Would you really like to see a different eatery? It'd be different if she was ready to retire. With no family that wanted to maintain the restaurant.
Kates been there through the long haul.
And she's fed a lot of people, the prices were fair, the food was good and there wasn't an attitude, that I perceived from anyone at any time. And staff always let me use the toilet when I needed. That alone indicates a necessary place.
Really, coming together to eat at the joint wouldn't hurt most of us financially and perhaps may help maintain a neighborhood business.
Think about it!
She fed us. Let's feed her!
westville is expensive, you always have to wait, and that crowd makes me nauseaus. i mean literally, physically naseaus. how can you sit there and listen to that mindless squeaky drivel while actually trying to ENJOY a meal? can someone please explain that to me? and yes i have eaten there, twice actually.
don't underestimate how the problems at kates are endemic of the problems of the whole neighborhood. east village for east villagers is evaporating if we don't do something to stop it, much like NYC for New Yorkers.
All the best of luck to Kate and here's hoping they soldier through!
ps - you really think it's "healthy" to eat a muredered animal that's been pumped with toxic, cancer-causing chemicals and caged within two inches of its body for the entirety of its short and miserable life? a life of nothing but physical pain and torture? this is 95% of american meat. (other 1st world countries have laws with some semblance of morality). you are what you eat...
Please, please, please no more positive comments about Westville. This place is a nightmare:
1. They have a bunch of yunnie idiots blocking the entire street out front, morning, noon and night.
2. The crowds are so thick and so obnoxious that I have seen kids and people on walkers forced into the streets.
3. They block the entrance to 173 Avenue A so residents can't get in and out.
4. Their sidewalk cafe is illegal.
5. They take up all the public bike racks with their delivery bikes.
6. Their delivery guys are forced to sit outside all night and all day regardless of the weather.
7. They throw their garbage bags all over the place and get their garbage all over the cars parked on 11th street.
In general they are terrible neighbors who use the sidewalks as an extension of their restaurant and essentially say f**** you to anyone and everyone who raises a concern.
In terms of kate's she needs to get better staff, keep some of the classic sandwiches and entree's and revamp the menu. This place used to be nice, good staff and decent food, but seems like perhaps Kate got distracted or lost her passion. C'mon Kate hear what we say as we would love to support you - definately over Westville for sure.
The food at Westville is fresh, and it tastes good, and the wait staff is friendly and together. I am not denying the validity of the other complaints, like it being expensive and the sidewalk traffic being annoying, but they cover the bases on the two most important things you want out of a restaurant: food that tastes good and helpful servers. I love this neighborhood and patronize long-time businesses but only if the food and service is good. If they fail on those two counts, it is a waste of my money, even if the meal is a bit cheaper, and time if the waiters are rude.
Seems like all these weird stories are an attempt to drum up some publicity.
@anon 5:42 - yup you sound like the type who eats there.
Self-absorbed and selfish - as long as I get what I want out of a restaurant who gives a shit how it impacts the people who live above it or near it. That's the problem with the neighborhood now - everyone is only concerned about themselves and satisfying their own needs - screw the next guy if he doesn't like it.
@729
Wait, so I am supposed to go to a restaurant with bad food and bad service out of some responsibility to the neighborhood? That doesnt sound like a recipe for success for any community...
...Westville...sidewalk...
I've been wondering about that. Do they have a permit for the amazingly large part of the sidewalk they use?
@729 "...I am supposed to go to a restaurant with bad food and bad service out of some responsibility to the neighborhood?"
@729 you just don't get it do you?
you are supposed to go to a restaurant that has good food and good service AND PAYS ATTENTION TO THEIR NEIGHBORS, not just their loud, obnoxious customers.
this neighborhood has become a magnet for all the selfish, loud, rude folks that just want to party that we who live here have to pick-up after and push our way through.
westville might have great vegetables and good food but they have no idea of what a community is and show respect only for profit.
Bacon is not the answer, there are plenty of meat places. I'm vegan and I've been to plenty of vegan restaurants in manhattan and most of them seem busy. I never been to Kate's Joint, but looking at their menu I think it's a little cheap compared to other vegan places. They should focus on providing quality food and staff.
@Blue Glass
Fair point, its not too much to ask to be both. But I guess doesnt help Kates, since their food and service is bad...
I should say, I dont go to westville much, I just have a crush on a waitress there, and have always found the staff and food great, I cant speak to the neighbor issues, but that should def be part of the decision process, particularly for the people in the immediate area.
I would say everyone should just go to Northern Spy, but they already do it seems. Unfortunately, it seems to have gotten so popular that no one goes there anymore...
Whatever go where you want, we all have our own set of values, Im sure there are places to meet those values, even if it is subway, ha.
Hello - Anon who first mentioned Westville here.
I have no comment to make on their neighborhoodness, wait times, sidewalk stealing or squeaky customers.
The point was that they are a 'veggie' restau that is super successful.
Please keep it vegetarian! I only just discovered the place!
- East Villager
@Glamma......wake up. There's a huge difference between harmful processed, factory meat meat and organic, grassfed beef, which is what people are talking about. Learn the facts before fear-mongering and spreading misinformation.
yeah i have to say i also think westville sucks, the mexican place that was there prior was one of the best in the city
Kate's is going under because the restaurant is disgusting and dirty and the food sucks. Plain and simple.
pretty much echo what folks are saying here: there is a popular movement lately toward healthy, organic, local food, whether it's veg or not. for the veg, there are places around the EV that are doing well: Organic Grill, Caravan of Dreams, Angelica Kitchen. Old-fashioned vegetarian menus that are full of fake-meat comfort food, like Kate's, are going out of business. I live a block away from K'sJ and should be their target audience, but I haven't eaten there in ages because they serve what I call "french fry vegetarian" food. I go to the places mentioned above, plus the new Rawvolution; Northern Spy is quality & veg friendly... people want organic food not "fake chicken nuggets." Update the menu if you want to survive in today's market.
I can't ever go to fucking Westville because whenever I walk by it I feel like I'm in Greenwich, Connecticut.
glamma, stop it, you are making me hungry...
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