ICYMI: Littlefield Moving Around The Corner And Opening New Restaurant

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — Littlefield, a Gowanus event space that has been in the neighborhood for nearly a decade — is moving around the corner and adding a new bar and restaurant in the process.

Littlefield is moving from its 622 Degraw St. space around the corner to an old warehouse at 635 Sackett St. and will open Parklife, a restaurant and bar that will have regular hours and a 4,000 square-foot outdoor space.

"We were up for a renewal and the landlord at the time did not want to renew us, so we started looking for another space," littlefield owner Julie Kim said. "And we were fortunate enough to find another warehouse just around the corner. We really wanted to stay in the neighborhood that littlefield grew up in, essentially."

Indeed, littlefield (with a lowercase "l") has seen Gowanus's transformation from an industrial waterfront to a growing community of art space, bars and new restaurants.

"We were one of the first commercial businesses that came in," Kim said. "As a native New York-er, Gowanus has always been a neglected neighborhood due to its history. But we were excited about the community board wanting to revitalize it, and we thought it was a great fit and aligned with what they wanted to see for the future of Gowanus."

And once it was time to move, Kim made sure littlefield stayed in its home neighborhood.

"It’s sort of developed its own unique character," Kim said of Gowanus. "We have a lot of art galleries, local bar owners, local restaurants, local shops. We’ve been here from the jump and we wanted to stay. It’s part of our DNA too. Littlefield is associated with Gowanus."

The new littlefield will have the same feel as the old, Kim said, except with a new sound system, new lighting system and a bigger bar.

And the new restaurant, where the food will be provided by the people from El Atoradero in Prospect Heights.

"Everything that you’ve sort of come to expect with littlefield in terms of programming, that’ll all remain the same," Kim said. "We’re adding a second bar with food that’s called Parklife. That comes with a 4,00 square foot outdoor space. That one we’re very excited about. It’s a new opportunity for us to do something different than littlefield."

Kim said the bar is targeting mid-May to open the new littlefield and early June for Parklife.

Littlefield is also running a Kickstarter to help with moving and construction costs. Perks include free drinks, concert tickets and private parties.

Lead image by Eric Michael Pearson, courtesy littlefield

Editor's note: This story was originally published on Monday, April 24