Saul, the renowned Smith Street restaurant, served its last meal Sunday before shutting its Boerum Hill location for a move into the Brooklyn Museum later this year.
Fans packed the pioneering eatery Sunday night to get their last taste of its fine eats in Brownstone Brooklyn.
“I’m very happy for Saul and Lisa, but also devastated, because this was our around-the-corner, go-to restaurant,” said Cobble Hill resident David Bloomfield, who has been dining at Saul since it opened. Bloomfield had the cauliflower soup, Merguez-style sausage, and prime rib off the special menu at the proverbial last supper.
The beloved restaurant is expected to move into the Brooklyn Museum this fall. The new table-service restaurant will have approximately 80-seats. It will sit on the first floor adjacent to the museum’s recently renovated cafe, for which Bolton will also create the menu. Although the Smith Street restaurant only served dinner, the new Saul will serve lunch, brunch, and dinner and offer patio seating on the museum’s outdoor terrace.
“We wanted to create an important destination for food at the museum,” said Arnold Lehman, the museum’s director. He added that the iconic institution on Eastern Parkway, and its food service operator Restaurant Associates, had sought out the acclaimed eatery.
“Saul has been for a long time a really important focus for food in Brooklyn,” he said. “He was one of the first who really brought a significant dining experience to Brooklyn and he’s well-known and much-loved.”
Chef Saul Bolton opened his popular namesake eatery with his wife, Lisa, in 1999, when Smith Street was on its way to becoming Brooklyn’s famed restaurant row. The establishment’s quality of dining is so high-end that it has merited a coveted Michelin star for seven consecutive years.
Bolton also owns the Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights and Red Gravy in Brooklyn Heights.
The new eatery will have a bar for those who like to booze it up before interpreting works of art.
Foodies and art lovers alike said they cannot wait for the eatery to open.
“It’s a huge benefit,” said Cindy List of Crown Heights, a Saul fan who ate there on its last night. Because she’s a member of the Brooklyn Museum, List said that she will be frequenting the restaurant a lot more after it makes the move.
Bolton owns the Smith Street building where Saul was formerly housed. He’s not yet sure what he is going to do with it, said a spokeswoman for the restaurateur.
“We have loved our 14 years on Smith Street, but our space here was in need of a renovation,” the restaurant’s website reads.
The new eatery will be open for lunch and dinner Wednesdays through Sundays and for brunch on the weekends.
Reach reporter Natalie Musumeci at nmusumeci@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4505. Follow her at twitter.com/souleddout.
