Bed-Stuy Open Street, Restaurant Set-Up Named One Of NYC's Best

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — An Open Street and a restaurant in Bed-Stuy earned a new honor this week: an Alfresco Award, a new honor created to recognize the best such structures across the city.

Peaches Kitchen and Bar and Tompkins Avenue's Open Street program, run by the merchants association, was among the winners of the inaugural prize. The Alfresco Awards were a joint effort from the Design Trust for Public Space, the Regional Plan Association and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

The Open Street, which is run on Sundays, was praised for "putting community first" in its set up to enhance business and foot traffic between Gates and Halsey avenues, according to the awards.

“Despite the many challenges our local businesses faced during COVID, the Open Streets initiative gave us the opportunity to increase foot traffic to our commercial corridor and to increase revenue for our merchants on Tompkins Avenue," said Oma Holloway of Bridge Street Development Corporation on behalf of TAMA. "...We are proud that TAMA Sundays has become a positive VIBE as well as a DESTINATION in Brooklyn!”

Judges lauded Peaches restaurant, on Lewis Avenue, for using reclaimed plastics to build its outdoor dining structure, which it calls its "Friendship Cabins."

“The thought and work put into making them comfortable and safe, plus designed with upcycled plastic bottles from Friendship Products, was our focus," Peaches Operator Ben Grossman said. "For the Alfresco NYC Awards to reward us for our efforts shows it was well worth it. Thank You for this Award. We hope we can be a blueprint for how we can move forward with Outdoor Urban use of Sidewalk and Street for dining and public use."

Winners were selected by a jury of journalists, restaurant and economic development professionals and mobility advocates. Each will get $500, to "acknowledge their exceptional design efforts during a trying time for the industry."

Check out a full list of Alfresco winners here.

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.