New life will soon come to the disgraced corner of Henry and Cranberry streets — and the two popular neighborhood restaurateurs say they have no connection to the arrested operator of the previous establishment at the site.
The new Brooklyn Heights Wine Bar will open in the former Wine Bar at 50 Henry Street spot — and new owner Mark Lahm was quick to note that there are no associations whatsoever with Dan Kaufman, who managed not only the wine bar, but Busy Chef, Oven and the Blue Pig until he was arrested over the summer and charged with swindling more than $25,000 from customers’ credit cards.
Lahm, who owns Henry’s End at 44 Henry St., will open the new wine and tapas bar in February with Jim Montemarano, the owner of Cranberry’s, which is at 48 Henry St. The news was first reported on the Brooklyn Heights Blog.
The partners applied for a new liquor license in the space to ensure there would be no connection to the site’s past. That hurdle means that there won’t be any wine at the wine bar until the spring, but Lahm said he will serve small plates of cheeses, charcuterie, soups and “interesting salads” in the meantime.
“We’ll be doing good food that will be reasonably priced, and it will be a nice, comfortable, casual place,” Lahm said.
