NIGHT AND DAY
230 FIFTH AVENUE (at President Street)
PARK SLOPE, NY 11215
718-399-2161
knightanddame@aol.com

Look what I found in my in-box. Robin Hirsch, part-owner of the Cornelia Street Cafe and Judy Joice, owner of the Lion’s Head, have joined forces to bring a Greenwich Village-style eatery and performance space to Park Slope. Well, the Cornelia Street Cafe happens to be one of my favorite places in Manhattan. I have spent many a night there with a friend or two, drinking Chardonney. I couldn’t be happier about this turn of events.

Once upon a time there was a legendary watering hole in Greenwich Village called the Lion’s Head. Every writer in America hung out there, not to mention half the politicos, theater people, musicians, and sports figures.  It had a glorious run for twenty-eight years.

Twenty-eight years ago this July, three young artists opened a little one-room cafe on Cornelia Street, also in Greenwich Village, a stone’s throw from the Lion’s Head.  Slowly it grew, acquiring two more rooms, a kitchen and a downstairs performance space.  Every poet and performer in America, not to mention half the scientists, stiltwalkers and ventriloquists, developed new work there.

Now Judy Joice of the Lion’s Head and Robin Hirsch of the Cornelia Street Cafe have joined forces, together with master chef David Lopipero, to create a new gathering place in Park Slope, one of  the most vibrant and vital communities in New York today. 

NIGHT AND DAY is a song by Cole Porter, a play by Tom Stoppard, and as of tonight a restaurant/bar/performance space at the corner of Fifth Avenue and President.

Well, not yet a performance space . . .

We will open in stages.  As of tonight, July 1, at 5pm dinner.  Then, in a week or two, brunch on the weekends, followed by lunch and eventually breakfast.

Meanwhile in the back on President Street, on what was a carport (the death of yet another parking space sorry!), we are building a beautiful skylit dining room and performance space, where we expect some of the literary lions, musical heroes and acrobats of creativity who give Brooklyn in general and Park Slope in particular its unique character, will find a place to play.

Then, in the fall, when we all have our act together I’ll have a real opening.

So  . . . if you’re in town over this stifling weekend, we have a really expensive air conditioning system, not to mention a gorgeous space, terrific food and a beautiful bar.   We’d love to see you.

Robin Hirsch   Judy Joice