No, they’re not closed again for renovations: Fair Weather Bushwick has closed, for good. The former coffee shop re-envisioned as a fine dining establishment with a tasting menu ended its run at the beginning of the month a few months shy of their three year anniversary.
Previously located at 274 Wyckoff Avenue and just two blocks from the Myrtle-Wyckoff L and M subway stop, the conveniently situated establishment first opened its doors a couple months prior at the end of 2013, right before Old Stanley’s Bar opened just a little ways down Wyckoff.
Considering it hasn’t even been a year since Brun partnered with Chef John Creger (formerly of Artisanal Bistro and Le Cirque in Manhattan) to re-imagine her coffee shop as an upscale Bushwick eatery, the close comes as a shock. It was only this past spring that Fair Weather introduced a 10-course dinner tasting menu, which garnered the cozy establishment a mention in the New York Times.
As one of Fair Weather Bushwick’s first customers, I longed for the days it operated simply as a coffee shop, when Shane Sener was part owner. Sener was more or less the face of Fair Weather Bushwick in its early days: he was often behind the counter, and warmly greeted every single person that walked through his door.
Sener and Fair Weather’s owner Ebru Brun, who are both from Turkey, served delicious Turkish coffee to Bushwick, making it the first local establishment to do so.
Brun explains to Bushwick Daily that “when we were a coffee shop, things were simple and easy, but becoming a restaurant brought a lot of work.”
Immediately after Brun decided to close, she broke the news to her employees, giving them three weeks notice prior to Fair Weather’s final day on October 2. “Because I had very good relations with my employees and good friends, they knew the whole story from the beginning,” Brun discloses.
Brun explains that her decision to close Fair Weather Bushwick has everything to do with the fact that she needed more family time: “I couldn’t spend any time with my two little kids.”
Because Brun longed to devote more time to her family; the restaurant’s demanding evening hours were an especially hard time to be away from her children.
Fair Weather was still trying to gain footing as a dinner establishment, and Brun says that not wanting to be at work during evening hours made it difficult for her to help develop a solid dinner menu with Creger.
Three weeks out, Brun indicates that her career change was the right move: “I am simply back to my life and so much happier,” she explains.
What’s next for 274 Wyckoff Avenue? Brun has divulged to us that there are several parties interested in the location.
“I haven’t decided who to choose yet,” she discloses, but notes that she definitely plans on going with another food and beverage establishment.
Dear future occupant of 274 Wyckoff: you have big shoes to fill!
Featured image courtesy of Fair Weather Bushwick’s Instagram