Rumor Quelled: Restaurant Replacing Max’s Won’t Be A Steakhouse It Will Be Renovated Americana - With Oyster Bar!
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After the sale of the building that housed Max’s on Main went through, rumors swirled faster than a Hudson Valley micro-burst that the new restaurant would be a steakhouse. “It’s going to be like Peter Lugars! What has Beacon become!?” lamented some Beacon people, as they shook their heads, convinced that the last of the old Beacon restaurant bars were gone.
They weren’t totally wrong. The building that housed Joe’s Irish Pub on the other end of Main Street was sold by an generations deep Beacon citizen to new landlord realtors, one of whom branded herself as a “Social Justice Advocate Working at the Intersection of Philanthropy and Real Estate” who has since evicted an elderly man who is nearly deaf who was living there under Section 8 eligibility, as well as attempted evictions on others. Beacon’s Good Cause Eviction Law failed that man.
The doors are down at Lyonshare, making way for the new double doors.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth
Joe’s Irish Pub was replaced by Momo Valley, which moved from its vendor stall in the Hudson Valley Food Hall, a spot known for being an incubator of food businesses who eventually leave the nest for bricks and mortars of their own.
The building that housed Antalek and Moore Insurance Agency was sold by a generations deep Beacon citizen to a new owner, which ended the location of longtime Roma Nova (but find Roma Nova on Route 52 (Fishkill Avenue)! where Roma Nova permanently popped back up!), the barber, Bratt’s Florist, and Dutchess Community Outreach, who also offered a food pantry, were also pushed out by price and landlord negotiations. Dutchess Community Outreach did pop back up around the corner on Eliza Street. These are recent examples of businesses clinging to Beacon as they secure new leases when buildings turn over.
“I Can Assure You It Will Not Be A SteakHouse” Says New Owner
Enter one of Beacon’s newest building owners, Bud Schmeling, who bought the former Max’s building at 246 Main Street. “I was the manager of Peter Luger Steak House. That’s probably why people thought this would be a steak house. I can assure you, it will not be a steak house,” Bud told A Little Beacon Blog, after he reached out to this publication to quell such rumors and give us the inside scoop on his vision.
This building was not the first that Bud considered. “I was looking at other places,” Bud told ALBB. “Dogwood was for sale. We talked to them.” Dogwood, co-founded by former City Councilmember and current artist/builder George Mansfield, ended up selling Dogwood to local multi-real estate property and business holder, Brendan McAlpine.
Bud continued: “I came across this [246 Main Street]. Richie and his brother wanted to retire. They were ready. They left on their own terms. I have a good relationship with Richie. He has been helpful in the transition. No one came in and ran him out.”
ALBB can attest that Richie and Harvey Kaplan were selling the building before Harvey’s unexpected passing. Years ago Richie even asked ALBB if we wanted the building, to turn it into a hotel! We can barely pay our own electric bill and countless Roblox dollars to our kids, let alone college savings accounts. So we passed on the opportunity.
Were there Residential tenants OF the building?
The building has apartments upstairs that were low income housing. They were not in the best shape, but at times, employees became tenants. In fact, one of the older employees who was facing eviction from his apartment above the former Joe’s Irish Pub after its new owners came. He wasn’t being evicted for not paying rent. Those landlords wanted to increase his rent, so mounted a legal campaign to evict him. He was considering one of Richie’s apartments as a place to land, but settled elsewhere in Beacon, knowing the move would be temporary with the pending building sale.
Bud explained to ALBB: “As far as the tenants go, there were only a few left. Some of them actually worked for Richie. He gave them many months notice that he was selling the building and it needed to be vacant. That was the stipulation of the sale. They all had ample time to look for new lodgings, and we permitted them to stay as long as needed until they were settled. No one was upset or surprised as they knew early in the year that Richie sold the building. There weren’t any evictions. It went very smoothly.”
246 Main Street To Be Renovated To Original Historic Look
A photo of 246 Main Street from decades ago.
Photo Credit: Beacon Historical Society
Bud’s plans are to restore the building to its original look, based in part on a photo he found from the Beacon Historical Society. Did Bud know that the building had recently been designated historic, and that Richie and Harvey objected to the City of Beacon doing that? Fearing that it might hinder the sale of the building since any upgrades would need to fall within historic code which tends to be more expensive?
“No,” Bud told ALBB. “These are the plans I had for it anyway.”
Milk Washing Everything - Flipping The Look From Dark To Light
Former patrons will experience a total change from the outside to the inside of the building. According to a photo held by the Beacon Historic Society, the building was white washed with black windows.
“It is called milk washed,” But explained, “where you’ll see the original red brick under the white coating.” This aesthetic will be inside and out. The infamous dark wood bar is being replaced with a white quartz top. Regulars who were used to sitting in the warm wood might experience a pleasant surprise of fresh white quartz.
The tin ceilings will remain, but are being changed from black to antique white. The front door entrance will be grander, with double doors that are almost twice the height. The kitchen has been completely ripped out. “We need to keep it to code, so all of it is getting redone,” Bud confirmed. Outside the kitchen, where the service station used to be, will be the oyster bar. Bud showed this to ALBB by placing his body in the middle of the corner and spreading his long arms to approximate the size. His eyes lit up as he envisioned the events they could have around the oyster bar, with a similar bench layout of seating down the living room side of the restaurant.
The restaurant will be called Lyonshare.
Will It Be A Hotel Upstairs?
As Bud is renovating the building, ALBB asked him where he is staying. Did he buy something? Is he renting? “Rent is worse here in Beacon than it is in NYC. Finding someplace to rent has been difficult. I’m still searching.” Will he make himself an apartment upstairs? “The building is zoned as a hotel,” Bud told ALBB. “I think eventually it might be a hotel. Right now, we are just wanting to get the restaurant open. Maybe in 6 months we want to figure out what to do up there. Everyone I talked to thinks that would be a good idea.”
Bud says he is heartened by the sense of community in Beacon, and those in the restaurant business who want to help him. “All the other restaurant owners. People from Carter’s. The bar people. Everyone has been super helpful. They offered a list of vendors. I feel the sense of community. That has been very refreshing.”
Bud’s Entertainment, Music and Arts Background Will Bring More Things To Experience In Beacon
Bud opened Black Betty in Williamsburg, in 2000. Williamsburg at that time was undergoing a massive transformation, from blocks and blocks of garages - literal garage doors everywhere with bands playing behind them sometimes - to a neighborhood with baby strollers. “We were one of the first bar/restaurants in that first wave.” When they closed earlier than anticipated in 2009, one publication described Black Betty as “among the first of North Brooklyn’s early gentrifiers to be driven out of the neighborhood.”
In an article capturing what seemed to be a dramatic closing nine years later during a lease negotiation dual, Bud was quoted as saying: “‘We were definitely the first of a new breed of Williamsburg bars and performance places — and I don’t see something truly replacing Black Betty,’ said co-owner Bud Schmeling, whose intimate concert venue and attached Middle Eastern restaurant has drawn acts including Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Antibalas for free shows.” The food was also described as North African and Mediterranean.
Bud says he is digging into Beacon as his place of residence, plans to be at the restaurant every day, and intends to join the Elks Club. He was manager at Peter Luger for 14 years. After that, he was manager at Gage and Tollner. “It is there I met Adam Shepard,” Bud expands, “who was the executive chef and is designing our menu at Lyonshare.” Bud is also currently a senior writer at the award winning Victory Journal, a quarterly on sport and culture.
Are The People Of Beacon Satisfied?
Prior to this article publishing, ALBB described Bud’s stated plans to a focus group person who was committed to believing the rumor of the steakhouse concept. After a blink, the focus group person reflected: “Well, Beacon needs a steakhouse.” Proof that these Beacon people cannot be satisfied.
Based on Bud’s culinary and life experiences, seems like this renovation is going to bring another breath of fresh air to the block, which is flanked by Palestinian owned Ziatun, Isamu, Homespun, with Healthy In Color for carefully nutritionalized juices and salads across the street.
Looking forward to the reveal!
