April Bloomfield Is Back — In Brooklyn

Chef April Bloomfield — known in equal measure for memorable meat-centric fare and being caught in the middle of one of the biggest restaurant scandals of the #MeToo era — left her last remaining NYC restaurant two years ago, and she’s since remained out of the public eye. Now, she’ll be returning to the city’s restaurant scene, only this time in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan, with restaurateur Gabriel Stulman, of West Village staples like Joseph Leonard, Jeffrey’s Grocery, and Fairfax.

“I’m excited to share that we’re opening a restaurant in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. That’s all we’ve got to say about it for now. Can’t wait to share more when we have more to share,” Stulman announced on Instagram this morning. Bloomfield confirmed the partnership on her own account as well. Eater has reached out to Stulman and Bloomfield for additional information.

Last year, Stulman told Eater he would be opening a new venture in the neighborhood at 228 DeKalb Avenue, near Clermont Avenue, his first Brooklyn project (one that’s near his home in Fort Greene, where he moved fairly recently, he told Eater). While it’s unclear if this is the project Bloomfield is a part of, Stulman’s Dekalb Avenue restaurant is still very much underway.

New York State Liquor Authority lists a pending liquor license filed in November 2022, along with the restaurant name as Sailor under the LLC Destination Moon 22, linked to the restaurant group, Happy Cooking Hospitality. It’s listed in Brooklyn Community Board 2 meeting notes from October 2022 as a 1,000-square-foot bistro open for lunch and dinner with eight seats at the bar, 24 seats indoors, and potentially 34 outdoors. Last fall, Stulman told Eater he was aiming for a summer 2023 opening.

Bloomfield made a name for herself over the years for cooking excellent British gastropub food, most notably at the Spotted Pig, where she was a partner with exiled Ken Friedman, who was accused of sexual misconduct, resulting in his having to fork up more than 200K to ex-employees.

Bloomfield hasn’t been officially involved in New York restaurants since 2021, when she severed ties with her last restaurant, the Breslin, in Ace Hotel Nomad; the space is now home to Koloman, operating independently of the hotel group. In between closing her restaurant and the present, Bloomfield had been a chef-in-residence at the Mayflower Inn and Spa in Connecticut and a culinary advisor at the Vanderbilt, a mansion hotel in Newport, Rhode Island.