Huger Street, between King Street and Rutledge Avenue, is already the home to membership-only bar, The Faculty Lounge. A juice bar, Hurayali, is on the way. Now the street could add a deli to the mix. At the Sat. May 9 North Central Neighborhood Association meeting, agenda item No. 4 was discussion of a deli and coffee shop at the corner of Dewey and Huger streets. The address, 1-B Dewey St., is currently listed as Picture Mode Hair Developing barbershop.
1 B Dewey St. (North Central) (460-03-02-140) APP NO. 155-05-B1. Request use variance from Sec. 54-203 to allow a takeout restaurant only (coffee/deli) with 396sf of inside patron use area with days of operation Monday-Sunday and hours of operation 7 a.m.-11 p.m. in a DR-1F (Diverse-Residential) zone.
This potential deli news comes a week after the reported loss of another. Last week Eater.com announced Westside Delicatessen — a project that had been in the works for a year with developer Jeffrey Roberts, photographer Paul Cheney, and chef Marguerite Chalmers — had ended along with the promise of knackwurst sandwiches. In a post on the Westside Neighborhood Association, Roberts wrote that the idea “did not launch as planned.”
“This company was faced with a decision to lease out to a neighborhood-friendly-operator or sell the structure to a pre-vetted new owner,” Roberts wrote. He went on to say that the new owner of 237 Fishburne St. would be John Zucker, owner and chef of Cru Cafe and Catering. Zucker has been out of town and unavailable for comment.
Reached by phone, Roberts told City Paper, “Paul and Marguerite are wonderful people. This was just about the business model not working.” Roberts has spent the last year retrofitting the 100-year-old space and says if he couldn’t run a business there, he wanted someone who would pay homage to the building’s history as a corner store. “John Zucker is straight out of central casting. He’s the perfect guy to do that,” Roberts adds. The developer says Zucker will rebrand and rename Westside Delicatessen.
As for the deli on Huger and Dewey, we’re working on confirming the owners.
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