Bushwick’s beloved Little Mo has embraced the inevitable M-train closure by introducing a forthcoming summer pop-up location, Little Mama!
Kicking off their grand opening next Saturday, July 1 with a $10 pre-fixe tasting, the pop-up located at L’imprimerie Bakery will offer a summer twist on the Southeast Asian-fusion cuisine Little Mo customers love. Little Mama will begin with limited hours to start and will stay open for at least the duration of the M-train closure, in which Queens-Bound service will cease from Myrtle Broadway to Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue.
Both Little Mo and Baby Skips (the Little Skips outpost!) are located directly beneath the Myrtle Broadway-to-Central-Avenue viaduct, which needs desperate repairs to prepare for the impending L-Train shutdown in 2019. The affected businesses will shut down for at least three months starting July 1. Little Skips, located further down Myrtle, will remain open. Little Mo announced the temporary shop closures via Instagram.
Since the initial M-train announcement, owner Linda Thach has chosen to look on the bright side by interpreting the news as an opportunity to explore fresh culinary concepts. Creating Little Mama was not only as a flexible response to secure her staff, but also was an opportunity to excite her customer base with a redesigned seasonal menu, with upcoming items including noodle bowls (a spin-off of Little Mo’s rice bowls) and fish spring rolls.
“I was in L’imprimerie when Gus Reckel (the owner) offered the idea because he knew we were closing and he was getting his beer and wine license, so it was a good way to expand his hours and offerings.The pop-up will give us the opportunity to experiment with new menu items and also continue to offer Little Mo cuisine to the community,” Thach explained to Bushwick Daily.
Thach was present at last year’s MTA relocation program meeting for affected businesses and residents along the M-train. She explains how she turned her initial thoughts into proactive plans for her popular Bushwick establishments.
“I was worried mostly for my staff. I know it will be hard for them and I really love the crew we have, but I’m glad the M train is getting repaired. I heard it was long overdue and I knew there was nothing we could do to prevent the repairs, so we just accepted the news and made preparations with our staff to place them in other jobs,” Thach elaborated. “I hope to reopen with fresh, new menu items at Little Mo and Baby Skips to welcome back our customer base.”
Be the first to try the new dishes at Little Mama’s this July! And if that Instagram photo is implying anything, it’s to get there before the crowds, because it looks that good.
Featured image courtesy of Little Mama’s Instagram page.