Melba’s restaurant in Harlem May Expand

Harlem soul food hotspot Melba’s restaurant is rising up the food chain.

Business has been so good for the cozy comfort food eatery on W. 114th St. near Frederick Douglass Blvd. — which typically has a line of patrons itching to get inside — that Melba’s may soon expand into a 700-square-foot space next door.


Melba Wilson, the restaurant’s renowned owner and chef, said she has not decided what’s in store for the space next door; she’s been surveying customers to see what they want.
At the moment, she said she’s thinking about expanding the restaurant by adding a “grab-and-go” area or a magazine shop.

“It’s been a dream that’s come to fruition,” Wilson said. “It starts with a vision.”
It’s an undeniable story of success, at a time when many longtime haunts have gone down the hatch.

In recent years, Harlem’s ever-changing culinary scene has been devoured by the high-end joints and corporate chains that can swing the neighborhood’s skyrocketing retail rents.

Wilson has a pedigree to succeed in Harlem: her late aunt, Sylvia Woods, built her own epnonymous restaurant into a world-famous fixture.

Like Woods, Wilson has managed to build a brand that’s stable enough to withstand the fickle tastes of change.

“The design of the place feels like you’re stepping into a warm home,” said Nikoa Evans-Hendricks, executive director of Harlem Park to Park, the merchants association that organized this week’s Harlem Hospitality and Culinary conference. “People always feel like they’re going home when they go to Melba’s.”

The road to success can be a bumpy one, but there are several essential ingredients, say industry heavy-hitters.

“It’s very important to please the people and make hospitality the most authentic part of your business,” said Alexander Smalls, executive chef and partner at newly opened jazz club Minton’s. “If you create a concept, you need to stay the course.”

“You go with the change,” said Nino Settepani, who opened Ristorante Settepani on Lenox Ave. near W. 120th St., with wife Leah Abraham in 2000. “You always need to change with the community.”
That’s all well and good, but Wilson — who opened Melba’s in 2005 after stints at Sylvia’s, Rosa Mexicano and Windows on the World — says Harlemites will always respond to consistency, reasonable prices and a homey vibe.

“I don’t want to eliminate the locals who want to dine,” she said. “It’s important for locals to have a face and place in Harlem.”

Wilson, who said her rent has more than doubled, worries about the survival of the eateries and shops that make up Harlem’s homespun fabric.

“Small businesses provide the charm that Harlem offers,” Wilson said. “We made it sexy for others to be here, and through it all we want to stay here.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/melba-toasting-success-article-1.1497179#ixzz2iqI9enSD