This Friday, May 29th, Archie’s Tap & Table will open, where once Sugar & Spice Bake Shop and Eatery once stood on City Island, serving up comfort food with “an American twist” not to mention local Bronx beers.
After Sugar & Spice suffered damage from a fire in the apartment above last November, proprietor Alex Pertsovsky decided to retire the restaurant after a good 12 year run, which was begun with his sister Irina Brandler (who retired 5 years ago), and decided to dedicate himself to his dream of opening up something like Archie’s.
With his new endeavor, his mom will still play, “a critical role to the day-to-day operations,” and his wife, Lee Babcock, “…is the strong woman” next to him.
“My passion has always been for fine dining comfort food and I took the misfortune of having a fire and turning it into something that’s my passion.” Pertsovksy told Welcome2TheBronx.
And judging by the menu alone it is definitely a comfort-food filled paradise with lots of twists. Best of all, the ingredients for the restaurant are locally sourced from Gun Hill Brewery beer, to coffee roasted in Queens, meats from the famous Pat LaFrieda’s in Jersey, and fish from our very own Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point.
Archie’s Tap & Table will be open for dinner only from Tuesdays-Friday from 4PM-10-PM and some of the menu items truly sound like decadent comfort food.
There’s a Grilled Cajun Pork Chop with forest mushrooms, cream gravy, and wilted baby kale, King Crab Mac & Cheese served with cheddar, goat cheese, parmesan, and gruyére, and a Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Waffles with Castskills maple syrup and fruit.
If that’s not enough to get your mouth watering, I don’t know what is—unless you’re a vegan or vegetarian—then you’ll have to settle for one of several dishes like Brussel Sprouts and Fried Rice, or a Baby Kale Salad.
Then on Saturdays and Sundays Archie’s will be open from 9AM-3PM for brunch with equally delightful options (the restaurant will reopen from 5PM-11PM for dinner on these days).
For brunch there will be an Eggwich served with Applewood bacon, cheddar on a sesame brioche roll, a Grilled Vegetable Wrap served with seasonal veggies, and herb dusted fries (I seriously can’t wait until they open to try all this delicious food!)
The restaurant is very tastefully appointed as you can see from the pictures. There’s even a garage door sliding window which opens to the outside where there will be 6 additional tables during the warm weather.
The food is definitely different from your standard City Island fare which Pertsovsky said, “The food will be more of an upscale bar comfort menu, our seafood menu or seafood specials menu will be driven by what’s fresh in the market…”
As for the name of the restaurant, Pertsovsky said, “Archie was my father’s nickname who was a Russian immigrant and taxi cab driver in New York for 30 years. He was my biggest fan and helped me through culinary school and when he passed I wanted to do nothing more than to make my career a tribute to his life”
Let’s all wish Chef Alex Pertsovsky and everyone at Archie’s Tap & Table much success on their opening this Friday and hope to see you there!
Archie’s is located at 536 City Island Avenue on, you guessed it, City Island.
