New York Post - 13.03.2020

New York Post, Friday, March 13, 2020

nypost.com

hew, 58, who met as 20-something

teachers at Thomas Jefferson HS

in East New York, dined at Gage &

Tollner on special occasions, in-

cluding after they got engaged on

the Brooklyn Heights promenade.

The Connors hosted their wed-

ding reception there in Decem-

ber 1996 and continued to make

pilgrimages for Chef Edna Lewis’

she-crab soup, clams and shrimp

when they moved to Bergenfield,

NJ. They were gutted when it

closed in 2004.

“It just felt like, ‘What’s happen-

ing to New York that we’re losing

such a rich place?’ ” Delores said.

“To me, it’s like a sacred kind of

dining that’s not rushed. It’s not

trendy or flashy, it’s just for peo-

ple who want to enjoy a meal

with quality food and quality ser-

vice that’s steeped in history.”

Longtime Brooklyn Heights

residents, retired architect Jane

McGroarty, 76, and her opthamol-

ogist husband, James, 77, went to

Gage & Tollner once a month to

chow down on oyster broil, Do-

ver sole and creamed spinach.

Every night at 6:30 p.m., Torin

recalls, Ed Dewey would enlist a

child to help him light the gas

chandeliers. Jane says her daugh-

ter loved participating in the cer-

emony by “blowing out” the long

lamplighter he used to ignite

small flames in each of the chan-

deliers’ branches. Although the

original lamps are still in place,

an unknown party has run wiring

through the gas valves, so only

electricity can be used to illumi-

nate them now.

When the Deweys retired in

1988, restaurateur Peter Aschke-

nasy took over.

He sold it to Carroll Gardens

native Joe Chirico in 1995. Some

scandals ensued: When actor

Steven Seagal and others went on

trial for racketeering, Bermudez

took the stand to testify about a

group dinner they had at Gage &

Tollner. Chirico himself was

eventually linked to the Gambino

crime family.

C

hirico held on until 2004,

even as Downtown Brooklyn

fell to big-box stores and

chains.

Then the neighborhood was re-

zoned and high-rise residential

towers brought an influx of deep-

pocketed residents. In April of

2017, Frizell and Schneider were

touring area commercial spaces

for an intimate bar. The real-es-

tate agent showed them the aban-

doned Gage & Tollner space.

“You could see the mirrors and

the arches, the trim and the Lin-

crusta and the chandeliers, and it

was just mind-blowing,” Frizell

said. “On the spot, we changed

our concept from a small 40-seat

cocktail bar to a giant oyster and

chophouse.”

It took Frizell, Schneider and

partner Kim years to raise the

$2 million necessary and then re-

store and renovate the time cap-

sule on Fulton Street, boosted by

the support of 335 Gage & Toll-

ner regulars who donated a total

of about $475,000 via crowd-

funding site Wefunder.

(The Connors, who supported

the campaign with about $2,000,

are excited to host a graduation

party for their 21-year-old son

this spring.)

“It was Brooklyn’s response to

the Four Seasons or the Rainbow

Room,” Frizell said. “To have it

disappear and become a fast food

restaurant — it hurt on a deep

emotional level, and to have it

come back is the culinary equiva-

lent of the Dodgers returning to

Brooklyn for a lot of people. We

didn’t know it was going to be

that important to people, but it’s

a nice surprise.”

Return of the fabled tables

Brooklyn Historical Society; NY Post: Chad Rachman

After ending 125-yr. run in ’04, B’klyn’s Gage & Tollner restaurant is reopening

The Lights shine on: Gage &

Tollner’s ornate chandeliers — which re-

mained in place even as the space was

occupied by a costume-jewelry shop

called Ladies and Gents (above) — were

a distinctive feature of the original restau-

rant (at left in the 1950s) and were lit

daily, with some ceremony, by then-

owner Ed Dewey (at right in 1956).