Au Revoir, Elmwood
by Jennifer Mogensen
Bryan and Tara Bryndle are relocating Tabree from the Elmwood Village to Williamsville.
On Saturday, August 27, an Elmwood staple will serve its last foie gras before packing up the moving van and heading for the suburbs.
After three years serving and educating Elmwood villagers in the art of fine French food, Tabree (423 Elmwood Avenue) will dim the lights on its city location and head for a new home at 4610 Main Street in Williamsville.
Bin There
Long time city dwellers have driven by without giving it a second glance but the Holiday Inn (620 Delaware Avenue) has been there for years. While the hotel is not new to the Allentown district, it has never quite gotten the recognition or the respect that it deserves. That’s about to change.
Last December, owner David Hart approved the addition of an upscale eatery inside his hotel. This new addition to Allentown’s eclectic eating scene is scheduled to open by Labor Day and will be called Bin 620.
As the name implies, Bin 620 will house an extensive wine list as well as a selection of popular, locally brewed beers. The menu promises to be diverse and offer a fusion of cultural cuisines. “We are looking to do something out of the ordinary for a Holiday Inn,” say general manager David Carroll.
The restaurant will offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The first two meals of the day will be counter service only but dinner will be a table service affair. The restaurant will boast a swanky bar and offer patrons both indoor and outdoor seating. The interior and exterior are being built to order. The restaurant is not a re-do of an older space but rather an innovative addition to the hotel.
Bin 620’s patio will be front and center on Delaware Avenue and will have a backdrop of the newly beautified hotel façade. After working with the Allentown Association, the Holiday Inn has been able to touch-up the front of the hotel and now they are ready for business.
The search for a second site took time, but owner Bryan Bryndle feels that he’s found the perfect location for the reincarnation of Tabree. The size of the new building and its kitchen were the key components that drew them the French bistro to the new building, which was previously the site of the Savvy Gourmet. But the work that Bryndle has but into this edifice makes it nearly unrecognizable from its prior occupant. Hardwood flooring, French oak, and communal tables give the restaurant a warm and welcoming feel. Photographs taken of the first Tabree will adorn the walls of the new location, paying homage to the restaurant’s downtown roots.
The move from the city to the suburbs was a difficult but necessary decision that Bryndle and his partner and wife, Tara, made. The well appointed yet cramped space on Elmwood wasn’t working for them anymore. “We’ve outgrown Elmwood Avenue,” says Bryndle. “Given the size, we couldn’t do what we wanted to do.”
The new Tabree will double their indoor seating capacity and still offer an outdoor patio option. The expanded kitchen will allow the chef to create a larger menu with a stronger focus on seafood while still maintaining their French fare. Unlike their city spot, where wine and beer were the only libations available, Tabree now is able to offer patrons a full bar with 12 very accommodating stools. In addition to the expanded menus of both food and drink, the new Tabree has a key component that city eateries often lack: parking.
Hoping to open in mid-September, the Bryndles are bringing with them their entire city staff and years of French culinary perfection. And although Elmwood will be sad to see them go, they are less than a 20-minute drive away, which is the average time it took to find a parking place nearby the old Tabree.
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