Sposabella Couture Bridal Shop Moving into Dolly Lyla Space

It's been less than a week since quirky boutique Dolly Lyla moved out of its storefront at 69 Seventh Avenue (between Berkeley and Lincoln), and the space has already been snatched up. 

Sposabella Couture, which will sell "everything for the bride, except the groom," according to its sign, in in the process of moving into the space. The bridal salon has another location in Bay Ridge, which apparently sells more than 600 varieties of veils and just about everything else a bride might need. Reviews range from glowing to negative.

Kulushkät Gourmet Falafel Coming to 446 Dean Street

A new Middle Eastern restaurant called Kulushkät will be opening next month in the space last occupied by Anneris Beauty Salon, on Dean Street just east of Fifth Avenue. 

The restaurant's owners, Israeli native Yagil Kadosh and friend Andrew Rowley, are both in their 20s and met while studying at SUNY Purchase. After deciding to open a restaurant, the duo spent months training in Israeli restaurants in order to develop the skills necessary to bring Kadosh's old family recipes to the masses. 

"In Israel I really learned how to cook authentically," said Kadosh. "The food served will be traditional and authentic Middle Eastern food, but on a higher scale. We'll be using lots of fresh local ingredients and it'll all be very affordable."

According to their Facebook page, the "mostly vegan" menu will include "flavored falafel, delicious home-made salads, smoothies, and yummy snacks," with international and local beers to be added later this Summer.

And as for that name? "Kulushkät means 'Shut up and eat' in Moroccan," explained Kadosh. "My grandma says that all the time."

Fleisher's Meats Coming to 192 Fifth Avenue

Looks like Park Slope is about to get a second butcher shop.

In a press release, Fleisher's (founded by Wolf Fleisher in 1901 in Kensington) announced that in early Fall they'll be opening up a second branch of their organic and grass fed meat market in the space most recently occupied by Hog Mountain, between Union and Sackett. Their other outpost is upstate in Kingston.

Here's what owner Jessica Applestone told Brooklyn Based:

"The offerings will be no different from what we offer in Kingston but we have more prepared frozen entrees. We already offer pot pies, shepherd’s pie but there will be more options like that. We will cut there (and make sausages) but we will continue to process in Kingston so we will doing major cutting etc. upstate. There will be a delivery van going back and forth every day so that if people have special orders and we don’t have it in, they can order it for the next day from Kingston. Oh, and of course we will have rotisserie chicken! We will be open six days a week, closed on Sundays with similar hours to our Kingston location. The shop will have a really old-fashioned, old-school butcher feel with a kid’s corner and stroller parking (it is Park Slope after all!) so that parents can shop easily. (Do we know our audience or what?) We are really looking forward to joining the neighborhood it seems like a perfect fit for us."

The full release can be found here. This is great news, and while longtime fixture M&S Prime Meats is just up the avenue, I don't think two butcher shops in one neighborhood is a bad thing.

The original Fleisher's, at 4159 18th Ave.

Met Life Mortgage Offices to Take Over Mark Ravitz's Seventh Avenue Gallery

For the past year, artist Mark Ravitz, who owns 200 Seventh Avenue and has used its facade to display his unique "drips" since the early 1980s, has been using the ground floor of his building as a gallery for his art. His intricate window displays, which changed frequently, were a wild diversion while walking down the avenue (especially last October, when his ghoulish designs for a Studio 54 Halloween party were on display). 

Ravitz's display windows, last year

While walking past the building (between Second and Third Streets) yesterday, though, I noticed that the gallery had been cleared out, and his art had been removed from the windows. 

I gave Ravitz (who is also a world renowned set designer) a call this morning, and he informed me that the storefront had indeed been rented. "It's a long time coming, because I didn't want a nail salon or food in the ground floor," he said. So who's the lucky buyer? It'll be a branch of MetLife's mortgage company, he told me. 

Sad that with such a creative building owner, a more creative ground floor tenant couldn't be found.

Couleur Cafe to Open Tuesday

Couleur Cafe, the new French cafe coming to 435 Seventh Avenue (between 14th and 15th Streets) is looking good, and just about ready to open. Signage went up over the weekend (along with a coat of turquoise paint), and owner Murat Ozcan tells me that it's all systems go to open up on Tuesday. 

Ozcan hopes that the cafe, which will be run with partner Francois Ronget, will become a cultural gathering place for the community, a place where regulars can come to read the paper, have a pastry, and discuss events of the day with Ozcan and fellow patrons.

Coffee will be a custom blend designed by Ronget in collaboration with Brooklyn Roasting, and it will be cold-pressed, which "keeps all the nutrients in," according to Ozcan.