The Great Georgiana Opens in Former Tillie's Space

Dominic Tracy, 26, and James Gregg, 30, are pleased that their new food-and-drink establishment, The Great Georgiana, has been well-received in the community. (Photo by Amanda Woods)

When Dominic Tracy, James Gregg and Chris Connor first considered opening a restaurant, Fort Greene wasn’t even on their radar. Early last month, though, they opened The Great Georgiana on DeKalb Avenue between Vanderbilt and Clermont Avenue – replacing the popular local cafe, Tillie’s of Brooklyn, which closed in late 2011.

“We were looking in Bushwick and a few other places,” said Tracy, 36, who lives in Fort Greene. “We never thought that a place would become available in Fort Greene. While we were looking around, we got a phone call from a friend saying, ‘I heard that Tillie’s would be closing on New Year’s Eve,’ at which point we began talking to the landlord. And it was a long courting process.”

The Great Georgiana, named after a ship that traveled from Glasgow, Scotland, Connor’s hometown, to Galong, Australia, Tracy’s hometown, is a cafe, restaurant and bar in one. Although Tracy said the restaurant’s staff is still working with a chef to establish the menu – which has not been unveiled yet – he noted that it will include charcuterie, and possibly cheeses and meat pâté. The eatery will also serve brunch and coffee, but will be different from Tillie’s in that it won’t serve cakes and muffins, according to Tracy. The drink menu is strong on wines and cocktails, he added.

The ambiance of The Great Georgiana is still developing, Tracy said. On Thursday nights, Danny Akalepse, a deejay at Truth and Soul Records, provides jazzy background music as visitors enjoy drinks.

“I think we’re bringing something quite different to the neighborhood,” Tracy said.

Tracy noted that business has been strong for the past few weeks, especially from locals who frequented Tillie’s.

“We miss Tillie’s,” said Jessica Waxler, a Fort Greene resident who visited The Great Georgiana with her husband, Mark, last week. Although she considers Tillie’s and The Great Georgiana “two completely different things,” she thinks the new establishment is a welcome addition to the nabe. “I love the aesthetic,” she said.

“The neighborhood needed a real bar,” said Greta Acosta, who visited The Great Georgiana with three friends last week.

The Great Georgiana, the newest food-and-drink establishment on Fort Greene’s DeKalb Avenue, will bring wines, cocktails, brunch, charcuterie and other offerings to the nabe. (Photo by Amanda Woods)

But over the last two years, as The Great Georgiana prepared to open, not everyone in the community agreed. At a Community Board 2 meeting in March 2012, some noted that the area was already oversaturated with bars, from Two Steps Down to the Alibi to Brooklyn Public, The Local reported.

At the same meeting, the restaurant’s liquor license application was voted down, in light of claims that the owners did not hang the license request paperwork in a prominent spot at the new establishment. But Tracy called the liquor license hold-back not “as big a deal as what it was perceived to be.” He and Gregg said that other factors prevented the eatery from opening as soon as they would have hoped.

“The building is 160 years old,” Gregg, 30, also a Fort Greene resident, said. “We started to do a demo to get us all the way back to the original brick and to actually demo the space out properly. Nobody had the blueprint. We were demoing and leveling floors when we never thought we would do it, and 14 layers were taken off the walls before we got to the brick. We were to work with contracts and architects and designers, and it was bit of a curve for us.”

Although rumors circulated that once the Great Georgiana opened, the Tillie’s Community Mural, treasured by many locals, would be taken down, Tracy said that matter was never on the table.

“We love the mural, the community loves the mural, so we wouldn’t dream of taking it down,” he said.

In fact, The Great Georgiana may soon display works from local artists inside the establishment, Gregg added. He noted that it’s a priority for his business to keep connected with the community.

“It’s really fantastic that the neighborhood is so interested in what’s been going on with the space and what will be ongoing,” Gregg said. “It feels really good. It’s been a really long process to get us to where we are now and we definitely have a lot of work still to go, but always just sort of banked on the neighborhood giving us enough grace to get to our full maturity. It will take a little more time, but I think we’re in a good space.”