New Restaurant Opening on Greenwich

Hawaii Cupcake Factory grid2Hawaii Cupcake Factory posted a press release online announcing that it would be soft-opening April 10 in Tribeca somewhere on Greenwich Street—I didn’t read it closely when I first spotted it (a habit I have with press releases), instead venturing over to HawaiiCupcakeFactory.com to check out the menu. It’s broad, to say the least: Seven salads (from Waldorf to Tex-Mex), four soups, ten appetizers, flatbread pizzas, eight burgers, and twenty-four entrées (including four under the headline “Skinnylicious”). And that’s not even taking into consideration the cupcakes—the Factory will offer more than 70 varieties.

From the press release: “The restaurant was conceived by Chef Day whose love of baking sent her back to culinary school at the ‘delicate’ age of 40. Chef wanted to enhance her knowledge of flavor combinations and learn the science of ingredients; she studied for her degree in Patisserie & Baking for more than 730 days at the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy. With more than 12 years in the industry from serving and preparing meals in assisted living to being a part of the recreation of hospital menus, transforming boring distasteful dishes to those found in fine dining restaurants.” The opening will be bittersweet, as the release notes—the original plan was to have her brother, Dale, onboard as culinary chef, but he was the victim of a hit-and-run accident last year.

As for exactly where on Greenwich, I called the number on the website, and Chef Day herself told me that the current occupant of the space had requested that Hawaii Cupcake Factory wait 30 days before announcing the location. I was happy to respect that, even though I suspected I knew. As I was preparing to write this up, however, I saw that the press release promises that the new space will have “upgraded decorative lighting and Hawaiian themed decor to create a more upscale fine dining atmosphere, sure to defunct the present decor of the pizzeria.” That certainly narrows it down. Chef Day, by the way, is originally from Belize, and many of the offerings will be informed by her heritage; we’ll have to wait to find out why “Hawaii” is in the name.

Here’s wishing them all the best for a smooth opening.

Update: Comments have been turned off due to spam. To have them turned back on, email tribecacitizen@gmail.com.

 

24 Comments

  1. I saw that press release too and my first question was “Where is the Hawaii?”.
    Doesn’t matter, I’m looking forward to some Belize influenced cuisine, perfected by more than 730 days of culinary training! Who counts like that?

    • Ah how we no longer have a sense of humor, relax & enjoy the joke & give your brain a little work on figuring how many months or years is equal to 730 days. Life is better with a cupcake in each hand.

  2. Those cupcakes look awfully small. :-) They will have to be pretty good to pull me away from Billy’s!

    • Mr Vazquez, I hope you get free cupcakes for your PR work on behalf of Billy’s anyway what is wrong with a bit of healthy competition. Moreover all the great reviews from Billy’s would make you believe they only serve one cupcake because all comments are about their banana cupcakes, hhhhhhmmmmmm. Drop by any time after we open and a dozen cupcake is on the house just for you.

  3. That’s some menu.

  4. mm… is anybody aware of this :

    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hawaiicupcakefactory/not-just-another-cupcake-storea-dining-experience

    this video is, well, appalling and the whole endeavor amateurish to say the least… is this project even funded ? how do they think will they be able to pay rent in this location (exact address being hardly a well-kept secret…)

    Smh big time…

    • Oh how wonderful we hide behind comments online the new age of cyber bullying. Regardless of your feelings, we have no pretending to do, we are a close family who love to have fun and so we did on that video. If we are funded or not on Kickstarter does not determine our bottom line and funds we are putting into the restaurant. You see God has provided everything we need. If we depended on people like yourself we would be DOA. Don’t be jealous, just be kind, like your parents always said, IF you don’t have something good to say then don’t say anything at all”, Be Blessed.

  5. Just saw that video – these guys are shooting for success on the island of Manhattan?? If this video is any indication of how they will run their place – they are going to have to step it up big time. I also think that the people in this area are not very open to ambiguous cuisines such as Carribean. Especially a Carribean place that has ‘Hawaii’ in the name. I give it 3 months. Sorry, just being honest.

    • One person speaking for an entire community & the tourist, research speaks otherwise. In regards to the video, I would rather be in a restaurant where people are friendly, warm and inviting, not stiff like those we wont name. Mi casa es su casa. Why Hawaii in the name, Hawaii is a place that invokes calm, peace, love, serenity, laughter, good times and memories made = us we want you to feel that way when you walk in and leave with good memories of a place where you were surrounded with memories of the island vacation you spent in Hawaii – if you ever went there. A great meal & dessert in a relax Island style. Bahama Breeze is the name of a great restaurant and there is nothing Bahama about it, none of the cuisine on their menu, only a few drinks but other than that it is about the decor & the music, so what’s in a name?

  6. I think these people are falling into the same trap that many of the “bygone” businesses down here have fallen into. They dont appear to be developing a “destination” business. Bush League Video!!!The rents in Tribeca require this. Cupcakes are not the key. The sparse population will not support a high rent business. They have two strkes against them before anyone tastes another cupcake. I wish them luck

    • Well Howard the great economist has spoken. Bush League video he must be referring to the Bush’s, I guess he is a republican the usual stuffy type, LOL. Make your haters your motivators. It is amazing to see how many people with PHD in speech we have around these days. “These people” how derogatory from such an educated person. We love you all and one day, you may visit our destination in the years to come……

  7. Oh, how I hate to criticize others, especially those with an entrepreneurial spirit. However, everything about this concept is bizarre. Her “corporate address” on 6th Ave is a mail drop box and based on her kickstarter video and press release, I say she never even gets her doors open. If by some miracle, she does open, she’ll be out of working capital before her first month ends.

    • CJ the Great PI, in respect for fellow entrepreneurs we have not disclosed our location address to give the present restaurant their time to close their doors with dignity and respect to the employees. I guess you are a follower of bad habits and did not listen to your mother’s advise “If you cannot say anything good then say nothing at all”. Small businesses are the backbone of American neighborhoods, instead of tearing them down we should support them. As I said my miracles are always provided by God, He is my provider and he will keep the nay sayers away & bring in the positive speakers. Chick-fil-A had everything stock against it’s owner even death but he rose like a phoenix from the ashes and when everyone said it will never work, now he is $6Billion strong, hhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm God has a funny way of showing other’s what he can do.

  8. They’re taking over a pizza place on Greenwich?? Not Tribeca Pizza! Please No!

  9. @Bec: No, not Tribeca Pizzeria…

  10. Does it even matter, it is something different and outside the norm. Oh; sorry, let’s keep it boring in Tribeca why don’t we. You people are a piece of work. I have eaten at every restaurant in Tribeca and must say it will be a great change for once to have something that is unpredictable and welcoming. Get your head out the clouds and welcome change, this is exactly why people in the city say Tribeca is dull, boring and lack vision. (Snobs)

  11. Hi Everyone!

    I appreciate your comments and although I clearly do not agree with them, they are welcomed. We already have all the money we need to open our restaurant and carry out whatever expenses may arise. The Kickstarter project was to have some community involvement where you will donate and receive rewards. This test market was to see if customers are welcoming to our concept and based on the amount raised it would appear not but that is also not true. We have spoken with many people and they are looking forward to seeing our restaurant open and it will. It takes much more than $75,000 to open a restaurant so it is premature to think we are reliant on that, no we have already put the money to the side already for the restaurant and daily operations for several years. We would love to see you their and will market our restaurant aggressively to insure success, we are passionate about our presentation and taste of our food and that will stand the test of time. Once the restaurant is open, we are confident that you all will enjoy our food and also agree that our cupcakes are the best you have ever tasted as many so called chefs do not truly understand the science behind the product, therefore their consistency is not on par with ours, size and taste. That is all for now and hopefully we will get to meet all of you in person that have made these comments at our grand-opening. As to the video comment about it being amateurish, It was recorded in fun with our children, If i wanted it professionally done, It would have, so no we are very professional and highly skilled at our profession and again once the restaurant is open, we are confident that these criticizing comments will be no more. Thank you for your time.

    Chef Thomas

  12. I wish you the best of luck. The menu looks unique and TriBeCa could use a nice,casual restaurant.

  13. I heard it was Deans!

    • No Comments, it will be revealed on Wednesday, February 5th, 2014, thank you and stay in tune.

      • If you wanted to keep it to yourself you probably should have left the pictures off of your Kickstarter page with your plans on how you plan to redesign the Deans space when you take over.

  14. mmm… ok this is officially going to be VERY fun…

    You’re really starting off on a great foot ” ” “Chef” ” ” Day/Thomas/Whatever, calling your potential customers stupid is the way to go !
    People are litterally dying to taste those scrawny belizean/hawaiian cupcakes anyway, yeah right…
    Thank God you “have already put the money to the side already for the restaurant and daily operations for several years.” Guess you’re going to need this eheh…