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Carmine's Italian Seafood Restaurant on Front Street offers tasty specialities with a rich history
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Development is underway to bring new retail and residential spaces to the South Street Seaport's Front Street, a historic block immortalized in Herman Melville's Moby Dick as home to narrator Ishmael. Called the "Historic Front Street" project, the initiative includes the renovation of 11 buildings and development of three vacant lots between Beekman and Peck Slip, with new construction designed to reflect the original character of the area.
The buildings are slated to be ready for occupancy this spring, and with their completion, the construction materials and equipment that have occupied this street for more than a year will vanish and sidewalk closures impeding pedestrian flow will become a thing of the past. But even amidst the construction, two longtime Front Street establishments still remain active -- Jeremy's Ale House and Carmine's Italian Seafood Restaurant -- offering tasty grub, good times, and memorable stories.
Jeremy's Ale House
"Anyone who ever wanted to go into the saloon business wanted to be like Rick," says Jeremy's Ale House owner Jeremy Holin, referring to barman Rick Blaine from movie classic Casablanca. Holin considers Casablanca the greatest cinematic love story of all time, and he considers Blaine a role model.
Pausing occasionally to sip from a glass of pale Irish whiskey, Holin extols the virtues of the classic film, which he says he's seen more than a hundred times. He saw it for the first time in an Atlantic City hotel room one night after his wife had fallen asleep. Ever since, he's been a Casablanca junkie and a Rick Blaine fan. In honor of Valentine's Day this year, he aired the film as part of the ale house's ongoing Monday night at the movies.
Like any gracious host, Holin greets everyone who passes through the bar. There's the morning rush of fishmongers from the nearby Fulton Street Fish Market. They stop in for the "Eye Opener" special -- a 32-ounce Styrofoam cup filled with Coors, just $1.75 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Next there are the stock brokers, construction workers, firefighters, and passersby, who drop by for a lunch of fried calamari or a bacon cheeseburger. Finally, the evening brings an after-work crowd looking to unwind. This proves easy thanks to the 21 beers on draft, which are served in two-pint containers for the serious beer drinker and pint glasses for those in training.
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| Jeremy Holin, owner of Jeremy's Ale House and a Casablanca junkie |
Holin usually recognizes the customers in his pub, but when he spots unfamiliar faces, he makes them feel right at home. As the Cheers TV theme song goes, everybody wants to go where people know your name. Must be part of what keep people coming back to Jeremy's -- and unlike his cinematic hero Rick, Holin won't refuse to have a drink with his customers.
Last June, when Jeremy's relocated from an old warehouse space on 254 Front Street to equally spacious digs down the block, the fishermen, suits, and construction workers followed. The move marked Jeremy's fifth South Street Seaport location (its fourth on Front Street) since opening in 1974. He started his business selling beer, soda, and sandwiches out of a wooden stand.
With Holin as master of ceremonies, the jukebox plays on and the crowd is ever lively. Indeed, a visit to Jeremy's Ale House makes it easy to forget what time of day it is and to exceed your hour allotment for lunch. But doing so, as Jeremy's patrons agree, is well worth it.
Jeremy's Ale House
228 Front Street
(212) 964-3537
Carmine's Italian Seafood Restaurant
Unrelated to the Carmine's in midtown, Carmine's Italian Seafood Restaurant celebrates its 102nd anniversary this year. Current owner Vincent Molini purchased the restaurant in 1977 from Carmine Russo, original owner and namesake. Russo began operating the restaurant in the mid-1930s, but the celebrated anniversary dates farther back, to when he first launched his restaurant career.
"My father, a bit of a storyteller himself, included the eatery's early years and honored his mother in the bargain," says Greg Molini, Vincent's son. Greg took over management of the restaurant from his father in 1983 and has run it ever since. But his father still had a say in the anniversary plans. "Let's make 1903 the starting date … the year my mother was born," Greg remembers his father saying.
As the story goes, Carmine Russo began his restaurant career as a boy, selling food first from a milk crate on the corner of Beekman Street and later in the Fulton Market building. Many people in the neighborhood remember Russo as a colorful, local figure. Marlon Brando is reported to have met him when filming On the Waterfront in the 1950s. As South Street Seaport legend goes, Russo's deep voice and commanding presence made an impression on Brando and, years later, became the inspiration for the Godfather character. Though not here to celebrate this year's anniversary -- Russo died in 1982 -- his memory most certainly lives on.
Step inside Carmine's and you feel instantly transported to old New York, thanks in no small part to the restaurant's old-school feel, dark mahogany bar, and oak-paneled walls. The restaurant's history, coupled with its fresh seafood and delicious Italian specialties, makes Carmine's an all-around enjoyable eating experience.
Carmine's Italian Seafood Restaurant
140 Beekman Street (at Front Street)
(212) 962-8606
For more information about the Historic Front Street project or to find out about residential and retail opportunities, please visit www.historicfrontstreet.com.
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