A new restaurant from the team behind Citroën will open in Williamsburg this summer.
Owner Dawn Eldridge told Greenpointers that she hopes to open her new spot, The Sparrow, by the second half of August.
The Sparrow will be located at 185 Broadway (at Driggs Avenue) in the Forman Building, which once housed the Sparrow Shoe Company. The shoe company’s owner, James R. Sparrow, was also the designer of the building in addition to other locations in North Brooklyn like some of the Milton Street row houses and some of the homes on Kent Street, where Sparrow lived.
Eldridge’s new restaurant was named after James R. Sparrow who Brownstoner called “one of Greenpoint’s most prolific builders.”
“We have been working on this concept for quite some time now, and it was always intended to be a sister concept to Citroën,” Eldridge said of The Sparrow.
Citroën opened in 2018 at 931 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint and closed last December because of “a contentious dispute” between Eldridge and the landlord. The bistro was known for traditional French fare and creative cocktails.
Eldridge explained that instead of reopening Citroën in a new location, she “decided to expand more on The Sparrow’s concept to incorporate more of the popular elements of Citroën.”
Eldridge describes The Sparrow as an “Art Deco cocktail bar and restaurant.” The kitchen at The Sparrow will be helmed by Executive Chef Carlos Despradel who previously worked at Manhattan restaurants like The Nomad and The Clocktower.
The Sparrow will offer a full raw bar with seafood towers, shellfish, crudos, and caviar. The menu will also include some of the most popular dishes from Citroën, like the burger and steak frites, in addition to “new shareable, French-inspired plates.”
The Sparrow will showcase an expansive wine collection with labels from all over the world, a “playful” cocktail menu, and a curated collection of spirits.
“We have many fun surprises we are working on and can’t wait to invite everyone to see our new home,” Eldridge said. “We are so incredibly excited.”
Good luck to the owners. Their place on Manhattan Ave was very popular, good food but a tad expensive (then again isn’t everything).
James Sparrow also built all the houses on both sides of Greenpoint Ave. between Franklin and Manhattan Aves. from 1875 to 1885.
I live in one of them. My friend said they build houses much better today. I told him come back in 150 yrs. and see if you can still say that.
Most if not all of Sparrow’s buildings have landmark status.