The long-shuttered Long Island Restaurant has begun a soft opening, and is serving drinks from Wednesday to Sunday. Much of the historic infrastructure has been retained, including the Art Deco bar fixtures (and the cigarette burned bar), the formica tables at the booths and a section of the original decades-old wallpaper.

Despite its history as a longshoreman’s watering hole, the Long Island’s offerings are distinctly upscale, including a range of precision-made cocktails, a $13 red wine and a $10 white(plans are in place to expand the wine offerings), and nothing as lowly as a PBR on the beer list.

Currently the kitchen is closed while the staff works the kinks out of the the bar operation, but the plan is eventually to offer “bar snacks” to complement the drink offerings.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/63398

CHB pal and neighborhood racounteur EJ Cory tweeted Saturday morning that the Long Island Restaurant’s iconic neon sign had disappeared from the corner of Atlantic and Henry.

Don’t fear friends. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the sign will return soon:

Brooklyn Paper: Permits on the building say the sign was removed so it could be cleaned, but one of the building’s owners only promised that the greasy spoon, which served hungry Brooklynites from 1951 until 2007, would reopen next month, then promptly hung up the phone.

Eater reported last year that veteran restaurateur Toby Cecchini will be involved in the spot’s reincarnation.

@bkheightsblog long island restaurant sign is gone!!

— ej cory (@ejcory) June 8, 2013

Lost New York: The long-dormant inside—the interior of which is a perfectly preserved 1950s-era bar and diner—had been undergoing a renovation for the past few months. I have no first-hand information on the undertaking, but my understanding is that the new proprietors intend to preserve the look of the place, including the signs. (Indeed, one of the stipulations of the Alperin family, which has long owned the building, and used to run the restaurant, is that anyone who occupied the space wouldn’t be allowed to change a thing about the decor. This led to may would-be tenants being shot down over the past five years.) That said, I suspect the signs have been taken down for restoration. Maybe we’ll be the first generation in decades to see that cursive neon lit!

Photo: Lost New York

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/8755