Bent Spoon will set up two tables on Palmer Square West.
By: Marjorie Censer
Gabrielle Carbone, co-owner of The Bent Spoon, has seen it far too often. The unlucky person who purchased an ice cream, a cupcake and a drink tries to balance all three on his knees while sitting on the bench outside the artisan ice cream shop and bakery. But that’s all about to change.
The bench will be removed and The Bent Spoon, located at 35 Palmer Square West, will set up two tables and four chairs outside the restaurant, pending the receipt of a license agreement from Princeton Borough.
"I think having outdoor seating creates a vibrant, exciting atmosphere," Ms. Carbone said. "If it enriches the Princeton downtown, then everybody benefits."
Though the change sounds minor, it is actually the result of months of work and could cost a significant fee in the future.
The sidewalk outside the restaurant is considered within the public right of way. Ms. Carbone met with the Princeton Historic Preservation Review Committee in May upon referral from the Borough Council in April. The historic preservation committee recommended that the council allow the outdoor tables in a pilot program until the end of September.
Borough Council members approved the program at their meeting June 28 and set a fee for the pilot program. Councilman David Goldfarb initially suggested the fee be $500 for the three-month period, but other council members said that was far too much. Councilwoman Wendy Benchley said the program is a pilot and the fee should reflect that.
"They don’t know what their profits are going to be," she said.
The council decided to charge $100 for the pilot period and require the store to keep track of its customer numbers and how often the tables are occupied. The council plans to compare the number of customers during the pilot program period with the number of customers in the months prior. In addition, The Bent Spoon must provide insurance for the outdoor area.
Ms. Carbone said she hopes the cost remains reasonable.
"I’m confident they’ll see that it’s good for the town," she said. "I hope it’s not prohibitively expensive. We want to do it as a service for our customers but it can’t be some sort of brand new giant expense."
Whatever the cost may turn out to be after the pilot program has ended, other restaurants want to climb aboard. Ms. Carbone said she received calls from other restaurateurs wondering how they too could begin an application process and two food establishment owners appeared before Borough Council on June 28.
Shalom Levin of The Red Onion, a deli on Nassau Street, and Seema Chopra of Mehek, an Indian restaurant on Nassau Street, both attended the meeting and voiced interest in getting approvals for outdoor seating. Unlike that of The Bent Spoon, the sidewalk outside of those restaurants belongs to the building owners. Mr. Goldfarb said it was important to adjust the zoning standards to allow restaurants with privately owned sidewalks the same opportunities as those whose sidewalks are publicly owned.
At The Bent Spoon, the road to outdoor seating is complete, for now. Until Sept. 30, the outdoor seating will remain.
"The process was long maybe a little too long," Ms. Carbone said. "But with every single group we worked with, it was never ‘No.’ No one ever said, ‘No, you can’t do that.’"