Far Enough from Wall Street

Also in Time Out, a classic interview with the witty Amy Besa, of Purple Yam, now planning an opening early next month:

You closed your Soho restaurant, Cendrillon, to open Purple Yam. Why the move?
After 9/11 there was a lull, and then Soho went berserk. Renters got pushed out, and we had really awful people living around there—traders. They were nasty, arrogant and noisy.

So is Ditmas Park your version of Soho circa ’95?
No, I don’t want another Soho, I want a real neighborhood. This is a real neighborhood, filled with families and beautiful Victorian houses that have been around for 100 years.

Will your food be influenced by the West Indian community?
Our [Filipino] culture shares ingredients with the West Indians. We’ve done some West Indian stuff already and will continue to.

Where do you eat in the area?
Well, the reason we liked Cortelyou Road in the first place was because of the Farm on Adderley ... Mimi’s Hummus is absolutely fabulous. And there’s Cinco de Mayo, which serves some of the best Mexican I’ve ever eaten. Right next to Mimi’s they’re opening up a wine bar, and the Farm expanded—they have three [spaces] now.

Any minute the traders will start moving in.
[Laughs] Nah, this is too far from Wall Street.