According to today's Observer, there's a restaurant renaissance going on over in Prospect Park. BK borough pres Marty Markowitz thinks it probably has something to do with the upcoming Nets arena, but it could just be that more well-to-do residents are moving into the area. And as any gentrification student knows, after bars and coffee shops, restaurants are major indicators of a changing neighborhood. The Obsever documents the newcomers:
"Washington Avenue has become the restaurant row. New orange signs hang from lamp posts proclaiming 'Washington Avenue, Eat, Drink, Shop.' Gen, a Japanese spot; Udom, excellent Thai; and now Rawstar, a Caribbean restaurant catering to the raw dairy-free lifestyle have all opened between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place. A new cafe began renovating a spot on Grand Avenue and Prospect Place, and my landlord told me of potential plans for yet another cafe...Up the street...a new wine bar called Abigails--by the owners of Camaje in the West Village--has opened."Six restaurants may not sound groundbreaking to Manhattanites, but in some neighborhoods, you take what you can get.
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