On the first day of 2023, Harvey’s Garden opened its doors to the city of Syracuse. Owned by City Councilor Michael Greene, it is the first self-service beer wall in Central New York.
“What we’re really trying to be is the backyard of the community so that people can feel at home here and meet up with all different groups of people,” Greene said.
The beer is sold by the ounce and the goal is so people can try as many different kinds as they want. Additionally, there is space for up to three food trucks to park outside the building.
How it works: Customers open a tab with the bar to receive a pour card. The card is inserted into the taps on the beer wall that will track pours by the ounce. Prices are available on their online menu.
“We partner with the Syracuse Food Truck Association, and their members use their online portal to be able to schedule,” Greene said. “We do have a kitchen here and we serve grilled cheeses, and different kinds of sandwiches as well as soup, so there will always be food available.”
2. Pork & Knife – 250 Clinton St., Syracuse
Pork & Knife opened Dec. 5 by Jonathan Page, who owns the nearby Three Lives bar and the Monkey Brains ghost kitchen. A ghost kitchen operates out of another restaurant on a limited basis. His new restaurant focuses on breakfast and lunch that incorporates pork.
“The idea for the space came about as an opportunity to expand Three Lives and the restaurant group itself,” Page said. “We didn’t have a place for breakfast, and we do lunch at Three Lives, but we wanted to offer a new menu option.”
Executive chef Jacob Flanders created a menu with many pork-centric items, such as a traditional Cuban sandwich.
“We wanted to make a Cuban because I haven’t had the right Cuban in Central New York,” Flanders said. “Past that, it’s stuff we want to eat, and we want it to taste good.”
They cure their own bacon and make their own breakfast sausage, Flanders said. The pork used on the Cuban is a mojo pork braised with citrus, cumin and coriander.
Page said once he found the right team of brothers - Jacob Flanders and sous chef Aaron Flanders - creating the space was easy. Page leased the space in September and opened three months later.
“This is one of the fastest turnaround times for opening a restaurant that I’ve had,” he said.
Flanders recommends trying the Cubano sandwich.
When it warms up, the outdoor space will have seating and yard games.
3. Lalalu – 6430 Yorktown Circle, East Syracuse
Danielle Mercuri is not new to the restaurant industry in Syracuse as she owns Rise N Shine and Loded. Recently, she opened two new restaurants, Lalalu and Lobster Babe.
Lalalu is a high-end Italian restaurant in East Syracuse, that took over the former location of Grimaldi’s Ristorante. Mercuri spent over a year remodeling the inside for the concept of her new restaurant.
The menu is eccentric, and there are a few dishes that can be prepared tableside, such as the cacio e pepe in the wheel. The server will light a cheese wheel on fire to prepare pasta.
“I’d recommend the nonna’s candies, that’s unique,” Mercuri said. “Other than that, we do the colored pasta, the vodka sauce that is served in a large cocktail glass, or the ribeye.”
They serve certified angus beef that comes fresh and is prepared with a pork fat marinade. The head chef at Lalalu, Filippo DiPaola, helped her develop the menu along with other creative staff members.