Vendors to Replace Tavern On the Green Next Month

A Long Way From The Crystal Room. The Rickshaw Dumpling Truck,  one of the vendors chosen to open next month in Central Park on October 15th at the former Tavern on the Green site. Mayor Bloomberg rejected a proposal by former Tavern owner Jennifer LeRoy - whose family had operated the iconic eatery since 1974 - that promised $30 million more than Dean Poll who was awarded the new concession. (Photo: Evan Sung for The Wall Street Journal)

Manhattan

Coming soon to Tavern on the Green: artisanal ice-cream, dumplings, Turkish tacos and fried truffled chickpeas.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department announced the selected food carts Thursday morning, slated to open on the terrace of the currently defunct Tavern on Oct. 15. The vendors will include Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, the Westchester-based Ladle of Love and Pera, an offshoot of Pera Mediterranean Brasserie in Midtown, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Ladle of Love, a food shop, will serve homemade soups and stews, salads, sandwiches and stuffed brownies, among other things. Pera will offer Turkish tacos with fillings such as lamb bacon BLT and tuna Nicoise, in addition to crispy chickpeas and baklava. The Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, a food truck well known to city diners, will serve its regular slate of dumplings with dipping sauces and sides. And Brooklyn-based Van Leeuwen will dish out its ice cream, as well as coffee and pastries.

Want some beer with those dumplings? That, too, could be coming soon. Leslie Lampert, owner of Ladle of Love, said she’ll sell local wines, beers and mixed drinks as soon as she gets her mobile liquor license approved by the state. She expects to have it by Oct. 15.

“I’m going to be doing all sorts of Manhattans,” she said. To start: a seasonal maple Manhattan for fall.

Tavern on the Green has been a landmark restaurant in the city for decades. Tavern has been empty since January 2010 when the former operators, the LeRoy family, lost their license from the City/Parks Department. Despite past financial improprieties with the another Parks concession located in Central Park, the Boat House, Dean J. Poll was awarded the new Tavern concession but was unable to work out a deal with the unions.  (photo: Buck Ennis)

Tavern’s transformation from a landmark and one of the nation’s highest-grossing restaurants into a visitor’s center continues. The Central Park Conservancy will soon open a gift shop in the space, selling park-related souvenirs. And an adjacent parking lot is now the site of a bicycle-rental station.

Read More:

Tavern on the Green Food Carts: Make Way for Dumplings, Beer

The Wall Street Journal Metropolis - September 16, 2010 - By Sumathi Reddy

Food trucks chosen for Tavern on the Green

The Parks Department just named the food concessionaires it selected to set up shop outside Central Park's Tavern on the Green. 

Crain's New York Business - September 16, 2010 - By Lisa Fickenscher

Tavern On The Green $ 86 Million Dollar Fallout

A Walk In The Park - June 14, 2010