A new restaurant, Cecily, will be joining the Greenpoint community this fall, co-owner Tara Noble confirms.
It will be housed in a three-floor space on 80 Franklin Street, which was formerly occupied by IRL Gallery. It just finished its demolition and is currently under construction. Cecily was spearheaded by three New York hospitality veterans, including Noble, a Brooklyn-native who runs a consulting firm, Third Space Hospitality; Kristin Ma, a sommelier at the Michelin-starred Estela in Nolita; and Stephan Ilnyckyj, who runs the kitchen at LaLou in Prospect Heights. The team strives to create a new neighborhood hangout spot.
“I wouldn’t have opened in any other borough,” Noble tells What Now New York. “I want this to be a space for people to feel comfortable hanging out and collaborating.”
Cecily will be a cafe by day and restaurant by night, however its soft launch this fall, likely in November, will start as just an evening restaurant. Eventually they will open the cafe starting at 10 a.m., Noble says. The space has three floors including a ground floor, a mezzanine and a rooftop. The rooftop will be used as a garden to grow seasonal vegetables for their plant-driven dinner menu. They are partnering with Greenpoint’s For The Record coffee shop to roast their coffee, and Ma will manage a full wine and cocktail bar.
Noble is the mastermind behind Cecily’s mission-driven business model. With over a decade of experience in hospitality, her consulting firm aims to create “third spaces,” a sociological term that refers to public gathering spaces.
In that spirit, she is committed to involving and giving back to the community. Local residents have been encouraged to participate in their planning process. Cecily will give local applicants priority in the hiring process. They are looking to hire full-time employees who will be given an array of benefits.
Most uniquely, employees will be given stakeholder status through the restaurant’s profit-sharing business model. They will also get paid to volunteer and have the option to participate in English and/or Spanish language classes.
“I hope this will give the community a sense of ownership in the business,” Noble says.
