In 1835, the Great Fire of New York destroyed 13 acres of densely packed wooden buildings in lower Manhattan: a conflagration so intense that the flames were reportedly visible from Philadelphia. New city fire ordinances requiring that rebuilding be done with brick and stone spurred a thriving brickmaking industry along the clay-lined banks of the Hudson. At its 19th-century height, more than 200 Hudson River brickyards were in operation, each of which marked its bricks with a unique stamp. The last locally molded brick of many millions was produced in 1979, at the Hutton Brickyard in East Kingston.
Until the industry became progressively more automated in the 20th century, brickmaking was a backbreaking, labor-intensive process that provided entry-level jobs for thousands of immigrant workers in communities up and down the Hudson River. It was not unusual for multiple generations of the same family to be employed for a lifetime at the brickworks. Among these hardworking men was Joseph “Skookie” Amato, born in 1908 to a family who had recently immigrated to Kingston from the region of Calabria in southern Italy. He began working at the Hutton Brickyard at the age of 9 and ended up helping to unionize the brickmakers, serving as president of the Brick Handlers’ Union in the 1950s and 1960s.
“He was kind of a Kingston legend,” says Dave Amato, owner of Ole Savannah, a popular barbecue restaurant on the Rondout waterfront that is housed in a cavernous former warehouse built of local brick. “He was so strong he could bend a dime in his fingers.”
“Skookie” was Dave’s grandfather, and “my childhood idol,” he says. “I was the youngest grandchild. I spent all of my early childhood with him, every day. He was a man of the town. Everyone back in the day worked in the brickyard.”
Now Dave Amato is getting a new venue ready to unveil this coming spring: the former Boitson’s Restaurant at 47 North Front Street in the historic Stockade District in Uptown Kingston. As homage to his grandfather and his generation of workers, Dave is calling the new business Brickmen Kitchen + Bar.
A gut renovation is currently underway; on the day HV1 paid a visit, the place was buzzing like a beehive with a large crew at work. Brand-new environmentally efficient HVAC and electrical systems were still exposed on the walls and ceilings, and cartons of new brick pavers for the floors were lined up, ready for installation. The historic pressed-tin ceilings and original brick of the south wall will remain exposed, and the entire design scheme of the new restaurant – put together by the Jackson Creative Group – will be “speakeasy/industrial.” The existing marble-topped bar is being preserved, and on the wall next to it a display of antique wooden brick molds is already being assembled.
The old Boitson’s kitchen has been torn out, to be replaced by two side-by-side open kitchens. The basement is also being renovated to house a full prep kitchen. The main indoor dining room is on the north side of the double storefront, and in the rear of the building an enclosed four-seasons dining room with sliding glass doors is under construction. That space opens onto an expansive deck with “nice views of the Catskills,” Amato notes, which will have its own seasonal bar.
When it’s finished, Brickmen Kitchen + Bar will be able to seat and serve 100 patrons at one time. It will be open seven days, serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. “We’re shooting for the beginning of April,” Amato says, and given the activity level of the work in progress, they just might make it.
Dale Miller, one of only 68 certified master chefs in the US and a Fellow of the Culinary Institute of America’s Alumni Board, has been tapped as consulting chef for the gastropub. “We have a strong culinary team on board,” says Amato, describing the style of the food to be offered as “modern dining” and “global fusion.” “The menu is going to be something for everyone,” locally sourced whenever possible and accommodating to vegans, gluten-avoiders and people with food allergies. “We’re going to have a raw bar, good steaks, seafood, Asian – a little bit of everything.”
Good, fresh food, a vintage look and a casual atmosphere sound like a winning combination for Uptown Kingston. We look forward to checking it out a few months from now. Grandpa Skookie would be proud.
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