Another Ambitious All-Day Restaurant Sets Its Sights on Williamsburg

Restaurateur Nate Adler, partner of enterprising East Village Basque restaurant Huertas, is jumping in the all-day restaurant game in Williamsburg with Gertie. Housed at 58 Marcy Ave., near Grand Street, Gertie is set to open in summer 2018, with a chef who comes from local favorites like Marlow & Sons, a spokeswoman for Adler confirms.

The restaurant, named after Adler’s Queens-born-and-raised grandmother, will be a restaurant open for breakfast to dinner. In addition to a 70-seat interior, the space will also have an outdoor patio and a community and events space downstairs.

For the project, Adler’s partnered up with general manager Flip Biddelman and a chef with lots of Williamsburg experience — Marlow & Sons, Diner, and Reynard alum Will Edwards. All three are all native New Yorkers, and the menu will play on the food they grew up eating. There will be a focus on the rotisserie oven, with spit roasted meats, fish, and vegetables served all day and night. Morning offerings include grilled turkey with egg, cheese, and pickles, as well as baked pastries. A roast beef Reuben with local cheese will be offered at lunch, and the night menu will feature “dinner party-inspired mains,” accompanied by seasonal vegetables and grains.

Also lending to Gertie’s all-day vibe will be a menu of “after-school sweets” such as Italian ice, soft serve dips, and a New York-inspired cocktail, wine, and beer program run by Adler. According to his representative, Adler’s goal “is to create a space you want to be any time of day” and to make Gertie “the friend’s house you always want to visit and never want to leave.” As part of its casual vibes, Gertie will offer “modified full service,” meaning that guests will place orders at a counter have their food brought to them but also have the option of reordering food and drinks from the table to avoid getting up again.

Adler opened Huertas with partner and chef Jonah Miller in 2014 with both small plates and pinxtos and a set menu. Both Pete Wells at the Times and Eater critic Ryan Sutton awarded the restaurant two stars. Over time, they got rid of the set menu, and Huertas has become known as an ambitious and solid neighborhood restaurant.

Gertie is set to join a slew of all-day restaurants popping up all over NYC, including the recently opened West-bourne, the upcoming Japanese all-day cafe Davelle, and the all-day French retail restaurant La Mercerie. Williamsburg is already home to several forward-thinking all-day restaurants, like Sunday In Brooklyn, Marlow & Sons, Reynard, and Egg Shop.