Late last year, celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson announced that he would be opening a new restaurant in Newark, and some new details have emerged as to what exactly might be in the works with the project.
Samuelsson, a Sweden-born James Beard winner who has published several cookbooks and appeared on programs like Bravo’s Top Chef and Food Network’s Chopped, is partnering with Ron Moelis of L+M Development for the Newark venture. The two became business partners at Harlem’s acclaimed eatery Red Rooster back in 2013 and will be opening their Brick City restaurant in 2,250-square-feet of space in the Hahne & Co. building.
Jersey Digs has nailed down the location where the restaurant will open. It will be taking space on the Halsey Street side of the building in Unit 1H, which is accessible from the ground floor of the street and nearby a Barnes and Noble that opened in the building earlier this year. Permits are posted and some construction work has begun at the site.
Per a public notice, the company operating the restaurant is registered as Streetbird Newark LLC, a name similar to Samuelsson’s Streetbird Rotisserie chicken kitchen that opened on Fredrick Douglas Boulevard in Harlem two years ago. But the Newark restaurant will be doing business as Marcus B&P, a new concept. The B in the name stands for bar, bodega and beer, while the P is short for parlor, patisserie and provisions.
NJ Advance Media reports that the 55-seat eatery is likely to feature some signature dishes from Samuelsson’s other restaurants, particularly Red Rooster’s fried chicken. Drinks will be served at Marcus B&P if all goes well, as the restaurant has applied to the Alcohol Beverage Control Board for purchase of a “pocket” liquor license, meaning an inactive one that they will activate upon opening.
It’s been a busy time for Samuelsson and his restaurants, as he just opened a London outpost of Red Rooster back in May and signed on last month to open another unnamed restaurant in a soon-to-open luxury building in Brooklyn called The Greenpoint. As far as the Newark spot, Eater reports that Samuelsson hopes to open the restaurant’s doors later this year.
