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Video: Pranna's Boozy Brunch Still Belching Out Wasted Chads
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 6, 2015
Modified May 8, 2015
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 6, 2015
Modified May 8, 2015
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When we last reported on Pranna in August, the disturbingly popular brunch spot in the Flatiron district was on Double Secret Probation: Community Board 5 threatened to yank the restaurant's liquor license unless they stopped serving bottomless brunch to bottomless smiles. Recent video suggests that Pranna is still Hogarth with hair gel.
Footage shot this past Sunday (the videographer helpfully displays the date atop the Sunday Times, as if to assist prosecutors and anthropologists alike) shows patrons unable to walk without assistance, and one woman who repeatedly tries to chase down another; a sprightly bouncer intervenes.
The soundless video demands the proper musical accompaniment.
Another video shot in April shows the police outside Pranna. A man in a blue shirt vomits next to a mailbox; moments later, a Pranna employee washes the sidewalk with buckets of water.
Pranna's troubles began last summer, when a lad named Jerry waved a Dunkin Donuts bag and claimed filial ownership of "half of Manhattan." Jerry wasn't the only Belligerent Bruncher to darken Pranna's door, and video confirmed what residents had been complaining about for years: brunch at Pranna was out of control.
In a letter to the State Liquor Authority in September [PDF], CB 5 cited "ongoing complaints of noise, drunken and unruly patrons, dancing without a cabaret license, and other disturbances for several years" and recommended that Pranna's liquor license be revoked unless they significantly changed their business model within three months.
In addition to stopping the practice of selling unlimited booze at a cut rate, the community board insisted that the restaurant "change the type of music played by DJs to dissuade a dancing atmosphere," and "maintain no less than six (6) dedicated security personnel in and in front of the building of the Premises at all times," among other stipulations.
Pranna's management agreed to the changes, and pledged to shrink the size of their restaurant and alter the atmosphere to something more like a "sit-down restaurant." They're also seeking to expand into a new location that they promised will be more upscale. In the meantime, they told the CB that they were watering down the drinks at brunch.
"A year ago the brunch was bottomless drinks and they moved the tables and chairs when brunch is over so people could dance(club setting)," goes one recent Yelp review. "I went here yesterday ( April 25 2015) and it is completely different. First off you get 5 drink tickets. The drinks come in a 8 oz cup and are served room temp. They do provide ice thou…Also they do not move any tables or chairs for people to dance. It's not a club. It's a really loud Resturant."
Pranna's current promotion for "The People's Brunch" is 5 drink tickets plus a bottle of champagne for the table for $45 per person. The reviewer sums up the changes: "The food is decent but if you came here for the food you already made a mistake."
A concerned resident who has complained about Pranna to the Community Board in the past and asked to remain anonymous because he was criticizing a popular business, echoed that sentiment.
"It’s the culture, people go to Pranna to get smashed."
The resident said that after the negative publicity in the fall, Pranna seemed to tone things down.
"Then spring 2015, the brunchers came back out, scrutiny was off Pranna, and they relaxed how they operate. Some of the typical behaviors were happening again since the spotlight was off Pranna and the weather was nicer."
A representative from Pranna has not yet returned our request for comment.
On May 27, CB 5 will meet to discuss Pranna's liquor license and review their application for a new restaurant.
[UPDATE] Rajiv Sharma, the president of the company that owns and operates Pranna, pointed to the end of bottomless brunch as a good-faith gesture to the community.
"This has had a significant negative financial impact to Pranna, but on the flip side we are pleased to state that there have hardly been any major incidents either inside or outside of Pranna," Sharma wrote in an email.
He added that given the amount of "special events" held in the space, "every once in a while, someone may overindulge, but it not something we encourage, and we do our best to prevent," and blamed the negative press on "a very irate and disgruntled neighbor."
"Even though we have tried to do our best and keep Pranna's guests contained inside and outside Pranna, this particular neighbor just don't want us here. We have worked all our life to get to this point and open our dream restaurant in NYC, and it is just very disappointing and disheartening to feel this negativity from this disgruntled neighbor," Sharma wrote, adding, "There is all kinds of legal remedies for us too (Invasion of Privacy, Defamation, etc.), but it is not in our nature or culture to think negatively to hurt anyone, even though they are deliberately hurting us."
Sharma says that Pranna's new "upscale fine dining" incarnation will be called "Ziya."
"The design, plans, menu, etc. for this concept restaurant have been submitted already to the Board and to the NYC DOB, and we are just waiting to get approvals so we can start construction."
Tagged
belligerent brunchers
brunch
community board 5
flatiron
pranna
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Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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