Bliss Bistro, a Sunnyside favorite, closes
Bliss Bistro
Bliss Bistro, one of Sunnyside’s premier restaurants, closed its doors today due to financial difficulties.
Alim Maruf, the owner of the Zagat- and Michelin-rated restaurant, fell behind in paying his $5,500 per month rent as the economy soured. Maruf did not comment on the closing.
At 1:00pm today, Maruf and his business partner were collecting their wine and other items before the landlord changed the locks.
Maruf opened the Skillman Ave. (46th Street) restaurant in March 2007 transforming the restaurant into a French bistro. Prior to his arrival, the restaurant known as “Bliss” offered New American cuisine.
Upon taking over the restaurant, Maruf enhanced the garden in the back of the restaurant for outdoor dining but maintained the simple décor of the dining room.
The closing is a blow to the Skillman Ave. district, which in recent years has undergone an upscale makeover.
As I’ve written before there are many places to eat from 48th to 46th between QB and Skillman. I don’t have that kind of money nor do I want to eat out that much.
It seems that the Thai place on 43rd Avenue and 49th has gone out. Too many good Thai places now – this is supply and demand.
yeah, sunnyside BID, sunnyside shines, man, it’s all for the photo op in the woodside herald. meanwhile let the place we live in go to hell. be nice if we had a business improvement group that actually DID something rather than make sure that “—— Month” banners hang on light poles.
BTW, the sunnyside shines guy who supposedly pick up trash on Greenpoint Ave – I watch from 5ft away as he pulled a garage sale paper from the pole and tossed it on the ground. I said “Shouldn’t you put that in your can??!!!” – he said “I am running out of room in my can”
I’m not convinced that the main problem facing Bliss Bistro was lack of parking, as suggested by Mike Novak. There are plenty of customers within easy walking distance.
That said, I think we could manage our metered parking better on Skillman. Right now the meters shut off at 7PM, and anyone parked there is allowed to keep their car in the same spot until the morning. Those regulations were put in place years ago, and in the meantime we have seen several restaurants open. I would support extending the meter hours until at least 9PM.
Angus Grieve-Smith why not do a survery with all the restaurnats or with the hearld or the sunnysidepost to see if the varioius business will benefit from certain questions being asked and answered to judge better what the issues are and are not.What do you think of that idea?
The Kettle on 51st Street seems to do well and they vary their menu although it is basically the same. They also have entertainment on Saturday nights. Why are they doing well while the Bliss Bistro could not? I think that Bliss was just not an inviting place especially for single people. I suspect it was overpriced for this neighborhood which really has people of mixed income and yes, many people on food stamps. Also, many people in the Kettle stay by the bar, order drinks and also eat there.
I am glad this place closed. I was there for my birthday with friends. I live in the area.. We were never treated so rudely in my life by the servers. I was a waiter and I can deal with alot.. My friends and I go out to dinner about 2 times a month togehter for years…. WE STILL TALK ABOUT HOW UNATTENTIVE THEY WERE AND THEN VERY RUDE. I NEVER WENT BACK EVER AGAIN AND I LIVE A FEW BLOCKS AWAY.. REAL SHAME.