Dumbo NYC

 Photo courtesy of The Brooklyn Paper, Daniel Krieger

Retreat, and its bar, Rebar, is featured in the Feb. 10 issue of The Brooklyn Paper. Owner/founder Jason Stevens quit his banking job at Merrill Lynch last February and started Retreat, something that he obviously loves much more than his former corporate job. I find it admirable that he not only quit a job where he could be financially comfortable, but also gives back to his community:

“For the most part, it has always been the Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights kind of thing,” he said. The crowd down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass “is in many ways a cross section of [those neighborhoods].” Stevens wants the community to make Retreat their own Brooklyn experience. “Our motto is ‘It’s your space.’”
…
Stevens sees the WiFi gallery, which takes up a third of Retreat’s overall space, as an opportunity to give back to the community.

“I really believe that public spaces are at a premium,” he said. “If I have an opportunity to create one, then I have an obligation. Especially in a neighborhood where art is such a unifying theme, that space should be a gallery.”

He has featured local artists in the space in the lounge, such as Pasqualina Azzarello, and will feature 80-year-old Dumbo artist Dolphy Hazel, mentioned in DumboNYC a few weeks ago. He will exhibit his wood carvings. Retreat also plans to expand even further this summer with a full Northern Mediterranean tasting menu and GOOD, a specialty tea and sweets shop, will move in. “There’s no reason to leave,” said Stevens. “We’re giving people a reason to stay in DUMBO.”

Retreat and Rebar, 147 Front Street – Between Pearl St. and Jay St.

{A real ‘treat’, By Juliana Bunim, The Brooklyn Paper}