I had the pleasure of talking with Ryan James Miller Gonzalez, the chef and new owner of the former Naidre’s, as he and his team were working to re-open their new cafe, Maybelle’s, at Henry and Sackett in Carroll Gardens. Ryan and his wife, Sarah Lovett, purchased the business on Jan. 12. Ryan says Maybelle’s will hold a soft launch on Thursday, Jan. 20, with a full opening on Friday, Jan. 21.
“We have a couple hundred regulars who come in here once a day, some twice or three times,” Ryan says. “We’re ready to open and start serving them again.”
Gone will be the large fridge on the left holding drinks, Ryan says, as he and Sarah want the space as open as possible. The breakfast menu will stay the same, but a new lunch menu will launch. Ryan was the chef of Naidre’s since April 2010, and is to thank for the lovely soups found there. He’ll continue with such delights as pineapple-jalepeno gazpacho, he said.
The new crew, including Sinclair and Drew, from Naidre’s, were installing a nice new Synesso coffee machine. Maybelle’s will serve Heliconias coffee, produced by Intelligencia Coffee, and coming from a single Columbian farmer.
“It hits your nose,” Ryan says.
Ryan says he and Sarah have applied for a liquor license. “Then I’ll really show Brooklyn what I can do,” he says.
Ryan’s got a passion for breakfast and eggs. He says he was a breakfast chef for nine years, first at a truck stop on the Indiana/Ohio border, then at an IHOP owned by Jordanians in Toledo, Ohio, who bought only the freshest produce, he says.
“Of the 101 ways to cook an egg, I know 40,” Ryan says. “And I know them off the back of my head.”
Meanwhile, Naidre’s owner Janice Pullicino will continue to operate Naidre’s in Park Slope, across the street from PS 321.
