Stability isn’t a word that often pops up when the subject is retail or restaurant businesses. They rise and fall on short-lived trends, customers’ whims, labor and supply chain costs, and other hard-to-control (or predict) factors. Like one person’s fixation on tariffs, for example.
National chains come and go like limited TV series (so long, Joanne), but out-of-town ownership doesn’t mean people here aren’t affected – your neighbor might end up unemployed when a corporate executive pulls the plug on a store.
Local retail and restaurant owners are a special breed. They’re forever on the frontlines, unprotected by stock options and bulbous buyout packages. Sometimes they’re leveraged to the max in pursuit of a vision. If you’re not evolving, you’re dying. Work-life balance does not exist.
All of this is a roundabout setup for a roundup of some recent closings and impending openings in our area.
On the restaurant scene, the buzz is already building over Turmeric House, which will bring Indian food back to town. Years ago, Plymouth had an excellent Indian restaurant called Namaste (in the space that is now home to New World Tavern). It was followed by another one at the same address – Guru. Since their demise, many of us have been longing for a return of those amazingly spiced Indian foods
Turmeric House to the rescue. It’s opening at 39 Court St., which over the years has housed a string of forgotten or forgettable restaurants, except for the glory days of Driftwood Publick House, which was known for its massive stuffed pretzels. (Sadly, Driftwood sank in the end.)
Food Court, 39 Court’s last tenant, never established an identify, starting with the name – an off-putting play on its downtown location. (Personally, anything that conjures mall food is enough to kill my appetite.)
But Turmeric House may have the recipe to succeed where others have fizzled. Owner and chef Andy Pokhrel told me he’s hoping to open around the second week of May. He’s run the popular Turmeric House in Weymouth for more than six years, and last year leased space in the food court at South Shore Plaza. I haven’t been to either location, but they earn raves from regulars who make the drive from Plymouth.
Work on converting the Food Court space has just started to ramp up. Pokhrel says he’s going through the process of obtaining permits and licenses. On the day we spoke, a new grease trap was being installed. One wall will feature wallpaper that blends icons of Indian culture with images of “old Plymouth,” he said.
The menu will be a sightly pared down version of Weymouth’s, with plenty of non-meat options in a town where beef and pork still rule at most restaurants, and vegetarian offerings can feel obligatory. (Fake beef with beet “blood” does not count. Gross.)
“Even meat lovers are turning to vegetables now,” Pokhrel said. “And there are so many vegans.”
Pokhrel, who is from Katmandu, Nepal, sharpened his culinary skills during a 14-year stint at Shanti, with locations in Dorchester and Roslinsale.
Closer to the south side of downtown, the former Roll Street Tavern space will make way for Kogi, which is moving from 8 Court St. Patti Cho, who also runs Shikku Hot Pot at 18 Court with her husband, Thuyet Phan, told me they’re aiming for a July opening. The project has been more work than she anticipated. (Aren’t they all?)
“We had to gut the whole thing,” Cho said. “The floor was horrible. All the plumbing had to get replaced. All the electrical had to get replaced.”
Among the more visible changes, the bar area is being moved from the center of the main room to a side wall.
“They’re working nonstop,” Cho said.
Unfortunately, plans to feature Korean barbeque had to be dropped, she said, because the price to do it properly – cooking with flames, not an induction stove – were crazy high. Like everything else, costs for building out a restaurant space have skyrocketed in the last couple of years.
“Oh, my God!” Cho said of the estimated expense. “It didn’t make financial sense.”
Don’t worry, though, most of the current Kogi menu will cross the street.
Cho said she’s working to make sure the new location opens the same day the old one goes dark.
“We’re hoping to make it as least disruptive as possible,” she said.
Not far from Kogi, the windows are papered over at the dormant storefront that for five years has promised the “future” home of Second Wind Brewing Company’s taproom and kitchen. It’s a long and complicated story, but indications are that the final chapter will be written this summer. The façade has already been repainted and spruced up. When will the taps finally open? “Soon” was all co-owner Kenny Semcken would commit to when asked that question by Independent correspondent Paul Boyd earlier this month. Given the history, his reticence is understandable.
As for the goings, the Bertucci’s restaurant on Commerce Way served its last pizza in March, the latest of the struggling regional chain’s closures. If you ate there recently, that doesn’t come as a surprise. With so many options for eating out in the Plymouth area, the mid-range chain restaurant – which needed a major refresh of everything from its menu to decor – was probably doomed. I’m surprised it held on so long. Still, there was a time when Bertucci’s pizza was more than OK, and those rolls were weirdly addictive.
As we reported in February, Carmen’s Café Nicole on Water Street was seized by the state Department of Revenue after falling behind by $228,000 in tax payments. Friends of owner Aria Capone tried to raise money to help her, but the pile of debt was too high. Many restaurants struggle to keep up with meals taxes, tempted to use that money to cover immediate expenses, and betting cash flow will improve before the collector comes calling.
Finally, a closing that was just over the border, but is relevant to Plymouth. The Macy’s at the depressing Kingston Collection finally shuttered in late March, having survived several rounds of the national retailer’s shutdowns over a decade as it contracted. As disheveled as it was toward the end – overpriced, understocked, and almost devoid of employees – Macy’s was the region’s only remaining department store. Some of you will remember it as Filene’s, one of the original anchors at what was then Independence Mall.
Confession: I miss the heyday of the mall, with its sights and sounds and weekend bustle, especially during the holidays. Sure, it was a monument to consumerism, but also a community gathering space of sorts. There aren’t many of those left. I’ll comfort myself with a brewery or two.
Mark Pothier can be reached at mark@plymouthindependent.org.