Later this year, Saga Hospitality Group, the team behind Manhattan’s Michelin-starred Crown Shy and Saga, will open a bakery and daytime restaurant on the ground floor of the reimagined Domino Sugar Factory, now called the Refinery at Domino (300 Kent Ave.), in Williamsburg.
The Refinery at Domino is a 15-story, 460,000 square-foot space from Two Trees Management, who first purchased the space in 2012. Saga Hospitality Group’s bakery and restaurant will live in a 3,000-square-foot space at the base of the building. It is the company’s first foray into Brooklyn.
Saga Hospitality Group’s Williamsburg project is helmed by Executive Pastry Chef Renata Ameni. Ameni was born in Brazil and came to New York in 2011 to work in the pastry kitchen at Jean-Georges. After two years there, Renata moved to Eleven Madison Park where she met Chef James Kent, the founder of Saga Hospitality Group. In 2018, Ameni developed the pastry program for Saga Hospitality Group and now oversees it.
The new bakery and restaurant will showcase Chef Ameni’s viennoiserie and other baked goods like brioche, croissants, and cookies. During lunchtime, Chef Ameni plans to offer a menu of salads and sandwiches, which diners will order at the counter for table-side service. There will also be ice cream and sundaes served through a window facing Domino Park.
“I’ve been working in restaurant kitchens for years, and I’ve always dreamt of operating a proper bakery to serve pastries and ice creams,” Chef Ameni said. “It feels quite fitting that my sweets shop would be in what was once a Domino Sugar Factory.”
Saga Hospitality Group told Greenpointers that the bakery and restaurant will open in late 2024.