This flower shop is pushing up daisies.
The owners of a hybrid florist and bar in Ditmas Park quit the plant trade after city inspectors temporarily closed the business due to health concerns over its odd marriage of foliage, food, and booze, forcing them to make a Sophie’s Choice to lose the stems in order to save the bar, according to a representative.
“The whole situation has been a very disturbing and emotionally difficult one for the staff and patrons,” said the Sycamore Bar and Flower Shop rep, who did not provide a name and communicated with this paper via e-mail. “It is still very unsettling without the flower shop, as we were all like family.”
But Sycamore’s owners remain very perplexed by a ruling that cited the business for storing food with flowers in the bar’s kitchen — which the rep claimed does not exist.
“The whole situation is confusing,” the rep said. “We have no food, and absolutely no kitchen or anything that resembles a kitchen.”
The Department of Health slapped the bar and flower shop at 1118 Courtelyou Road between Stratford and Westminster roads with a temporary shutdown following a Monday inspection, largely due to conditions that left food open to contamination by plants, according to an agency spokeswoman.
The health department’s definition of “food” includes beverages as well as edibles, she said, suggesting that storing blooms with booze might be what got Sycamore in trouble.
The city’s definition of “kitchen,” meanwhile, could not be clarified.
It is also unclear exactly what danger flowers pose to either food or beer.
“Bugs tend to be on flowers,” said spokeswoman Stephanie Buhle, without providing further clarification.
The business also received a citation for its backyard outdoor bar, which contained a tap system and sink that were not permitted by the Department of Buildings.
The tap system has since been removed, and a pop-up food court that relied on the outdoor bar was discontinued, according to Sycamore’s rep.
The health department did not shut down the flower shop, Buhle said, although the city recommended managers purchase a separate refrigerator for food and flowers.
But, despite Buhle’s statement to the contrary, shuttering the flower shop seemed to do the trick, and the bar was allowed to re-open after a follow-up inspection on Wednesday.
Sycamore’s owners are working with Councilman Mathieu Eugene (D–Ditmas Park) to find a solution that would allow the bar and flower shop to operate without violating the city’s health code, and the lawmaker’s main challenge likely will be making sense of the city’s citations, according to the business’s rep.
“We have reached out to our community board and local councilman’s office for some guidance, and they are reaching out to the DOH to get clarification on the issues with the flower shop, bar, and backyard so we can try become whole again,” the rep said.
Stems Brooklyn, which runs Sycamore’s flower shop arm, is still taking orders, and plans on opening a new location in Prospect Heights in August, according to the rep.
