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Historic Lundy's Moves From Clams to 'Cherry Hill'
By
Hugh Merwin
Published Mar 5, 2009
Modified Mar 5, 2009
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By
Hugh Merwin
Published Mar 5, 2009
Modified Mar 5, 2009
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Historic restaurant Lundy’s—whose home is a sprawling stucco building in Sheepshead Bay—will reopen as a 19,000 square foot gourmet market called Cherry Hill. The building’s owner David Isaev, who has been met with measures of opposition and support during the renovation process, previewed the property to the community on Tuesday. Blogger Gerristen Beach has photos, and Sheepshead Bites has a recap, including this bit of intel about an accompanying restaurant: building manager Anthony Kelley “mentioned that the market will also have a restaurant. Although he did not mention the names of the chefs, he said that two who worked in New York restaurants had been hired to work at Cherry Hill—pointing to the menus they have already developed.”
Lundy’s humble origins stem from a single bucket of clams raked from the bay sometime around 1904. However, the Lundy family at that time owned land, clam beds, and thriving fish markets. By 1907, the twelve-year-old Irving Lundy had built a working clam bar on stilts. Lundy’s on Emmons Avenue was built in 1934. Irving Lundy, once the wealthiest man in Sheepshead Bay, died in 1977, by which time he had become a recluse, sharing his estate with fourteen Irish Setters. The restaurant closed in 1979 (or 1977) and reopened in the 90s with a different format. By the time of its 2007 closure, Lundy’s had changed hands and reopened multiple times and these intermittent periods of closure had led to a myriad of cosmetic and structural issues. The building was given landmark status by the NYLPC in 1992.
Since the 1930s, the common denominator of each Lundy’s incarnation has been clam bisque, clam chowder, and half-shells. It is unclear whether “Whole Foods-style” Cherry Hill, set to open this spring, will follow suit.
Tagged
chefs
Cherry Hill
clam bars
David Isaev
Irving Lundy
Lundy’s
sheepshead bay
Hugh Merwin
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