Bankrupt Ice Cream Chain Ample Hills Is Back (Again)

Ample Hills, the Brooklyn-based ice cream chain that went from beloved to bankrupt in a little over a decade, will reopen under its original owners this week. The ice cream shop declared bankruptcy last year with 14 locations in New York City, including a giant Red Hook production facility that cost nearly $7 million to build, and was purchased by Schmitt Industries, a machine parts company in Oregon, for $1 million. Schmitt couldn’t turn things around, and last month, the chain’s founders, Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna, purchased the brand back for $150,000, the New York Times reports. The couple will reopen their original scoop shop, in Prospect Heights, on Wednesday, followed by three more locations in New York City this summer.

There’s a new item on the menu at Peter Luger

Peter Luger, a New York institution known for its brusque service and inconsistent steaks, has added a new item to its menu — a rare development for a restaurant that has stubbornly defied change since opening in 1887. You won’t find its steak sandwich listed on the menu: It’s sold by request at lunch, Monday through Thursday, at Peter Luger’s original location in Williamsburg, according to Time Out. For $38, eight ounces of steak are cooked to order with caramelized onions and a horseradish sauce on a roll.

Central Park’s iconic boathouse cafe is back open

The cafe at Central Park’s iconic Loeb Boathouse reopened last week after an eight-month closure. Though the full restaurant and bar won’t reopen until later this summer, its 80-seat outdoor cafe is now up and running under its new owner, Legends Hospitality, who runs the concessions at Yankee Stadium. The website Upper East Site has the first look at the new menu, which includes breakfast sandwiches, hot dogs from the German butcher shop Schaller & Weber, and lobster rolls for $25. The historic boathouse shut down last fall over rising labor and food costs, its previous owner, Dean Poll, said at the time.

A landmark gay bar is moving on

The Boiler Room, an East Village dive bar known for its gay clientele, is moving after 34 years. According to the website EV Grieve, the bar has been in a prolonged court battle with its landlord over unpaid rent from the pandemic and will soon relocate. The bar will operate from its longtime home at 86 E. Fourth Street, near Second Avenue, until at least September, when its lease expires. It will reopen, likely next year, at 45 Second Avenue, between Second and Third streets.