Jackson Heights Life

Interesting re: Glen Oaks! I never could figure out how an Italian pastry chef who opened a bakery with extensive bakery offerings was also making special halal meals for holidays for the South Asian community--it seemed like an amazing blend of cultures and cuisines and really admirable. Now it seems he is merging his business with a South Asian grocery--possibly both here and in Glen Oaks? Just really unusual.  Was not really into the sweets, because we don't really eat them, but the food he served was really great. I hope something good opens in that space, whether by him or someone else. It's a great location. Another JH culinary mystery story--like Swim Two Birds!

I walked by today and noticed that there is brown paper now lining the widows. There’s one window that isn’t fully covered and peeked in and they’ve opened the back wall into the Farine space. So probably any hope of it being a bakery again is limited. It seems like it might be an extension of the grocery store or maybe a restaurant/takeout place? It’s just really weird that both the official IG account and Michael Mignano himself don’t respond to any comments.

Perhaps it will be a wonderful surprise.

Just go to the market next door, and you can see the whole interior of Farine, they have a section tear down to connect the two space.

All I can see is a mess in front, both sides of sidewalk taken up by bins of fruits and vegetables. They really should make it more attractive and not block the sidewalk

Oh well...I just took a look and it's evident that the grocery store is simply expanding into the Farine space, and if you think it's going to have a counter offering fancy pastries such as Farine's offered--well I highly doubt it. That would be an odd mashup indeed. I suppose the grocery is more profitable than the bakery/restaurant was, and that must be the reason for this. Though it's hard to understand how so many grocery stores within a few blocks can all be profitable enough to remain. Farine's was such a great addition to the neighborhood. Really disappointing.

I got a reply from the owner. We all need to hear all sides of the story. I wish him the best and hope he will be able to make a bold return. Landlords aren’t known to be empathic...

“ Hi,
Sorry i have been busy with a lot of financial issues so, couldn't reach out earlier.
We didnt get any rent concession throughout the pandemic and when we couldn't meet the payment last month due to lack of business we were forced to leave the premises. Thank you for reaching out to want to help. It means a lot.”

as far as outdoor dining for Farine, going past the bus stop on 75th street, you immediately hit the parking lot, which is pretty expansive -- you'd need to go a good 200 feet away from the restaurant for the first table (and that may - i'm not sure - be a residence). location, location, location was great for the place until this all came down. i'll definitely miss them.

Well, it's good to know the answer. I don't get why they told people they were putting in a new oven or renovating the kitchen. Why not be honest? You could even go one step further than just being honest and do a GoFundMe to try and keep going--but why not tell your loyal customers the truth in a situation like this? A huge number of restaurants are in the same straits and have closed or are going to close because of this. It's really too bad, it was a great thing for the neighborhood. I hope others won't be following them out of business, but I'm sure it's been very hard to keep going, and I'm afraid that come winter we might see more places closing. We've been lucky so far--so many great restaurants here and almost all have kept going through this so far.