Leading up to this month's CB3/SLA meeting on Nov. 19, public documents showed that the owners of the new Acme (and Indochine, among others) were proposing to take over the former Lucky Cheng's space on First Avenue. (You can read more on the concept
here.)
However, for whatever reasons, those plans never materialized and the group did not appear at the meeting.
Meanwhile, yesterday,
CB3 released the SLA committee docket for December, which includes this item:
Pride and Joy (Pride and Joy BBQ LLC), 24 1st Ave (op)
Turns out that this will be the first NYC outpost for renowed BBQ chef
Myron Mixon, who, among other things, serves as a judge on
TLC's Destination America's "BBQ Pitmasters." (Per
his bio, he is known as "the winningest man in barbecue," and authored a best-seller titled "Smokin' with Myron Mixon.")
A Pride & Joy opened earlier this month in North Miami. Per
Eater Miami:
Mixon will be using his custom-made smokers and his own line of sauces and spices to serve up some the darn best ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and wings you've ever had.
I asked Lucky Cheng's owner Hayne Suthon (
who also resides in the building here on First Avenue) about her new tenant.
"I am beyond excited to have this group comprised of a stellar team covering all bases of food, design construction and operations," she said in an email. "I have found them to be nothing short of super down to earth, sharp, creative and talented."
In addition to the restaurant, the Pride & Joy team apparently has some ideas for other uses of the space.
"As a resident of 1st Avenue and 2nd St since 1986, observing the good and bad trends over the past 26 years, they have been very receptive to my ideas as to what is needed in the neighborhood," Suthon said. "Aside from all of that, I CANNOT wait for them to open; I'm obsessed with good barbecue. I've already had a dream about dining there."
[
Pride & Joy photo via Eater Miami]