It’s the DIY clam shack.
A trio of best friends — none of whom has any experience in restaurants — is about to realize the impossible dream: opening an oyster and raw bar with blood, sweat and donations on the Internet.
Aaron Lefkove, Andy Curtin and Charlie Moody aims to open “a New England-style beachside seafood shack,” serving classics like fried and stuffed clams, lobster rolls and plenty of cold beer, on Third Avenue in Gowanus in September.
The partners have already raised nearly $9,700 on Kickstarter, a fundraising website, already exceeding their $8,000 goal.
“Kickstarter allows you to create a personal relationship with the community,” Lefkove said. “The neighbors have a hand in the opening of a great hangout.”
To generate excitement (and donations), the Littleneck team has been offering sweet incentives — such as a free beer for a $10 donation, or a raw bar platter, beverage and tote bag for $50.
They’re are also offering a lifetime supply of suds and crustaceans to anyone willing to plunk down $5,000 — an amount Lefkove calculates would take roughly 500 visits to recoup.
“Honestly, we don’t really expect anyone to throw five G’s at us, but we’d absolutely follow through on our promise.”
For now, the three buddies — Lefkove is a writer, Curtain runs a cab company and Moody is an artist — are getting a crash course from the bottom up; battling red tape, dealing with contractors, and literally building out their space — formerly a chess and trophy shop — by hand.
“We’re trying to do as much as we can with repurposed and eco-friendly materials,” said Lefkove. “We’re even building our light fixtures out of salvaged scraps. Passerby have been so excited about the whole thing, some of them have actually offered to help us out.”
And the best news is that even though the restaurant is between Carroll and President streets near the Gowanus Canal, none of the menu items will be from that particular waterway.
“We’ll source seafood as close to home as possible, but rest assured, none of it will actually come from the canal,” promised Lefkove.
Littleneck (288 Third Ave. between Carroll and President Streets in Gowanus). For information, visit www.littleneckbrooklyn.com.
