By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
Two prominent Bayside restaurateurs will take over Douglaston Manor, the catering facility on the Douglaston Golf Course, in an agreement with the city that also awards management of the Douglaston and Clearview golf courses to companies that will substantially upgrade the facilities.
Dominick Bruccoleri, owner of Papazzio on Bell Boulevard, and Paul Lim, owner of nearby Erawan, were awarded a 20-year contract to manage and renovate Douglaston Manor. A Parks Department spokeswoman said the agreement would bring $2 million in improvements to Douglaston Manor.
Bruccoleri, who also plans to open a restaurant at Fort Totten, said a steak house idea was in the works. The chefs for the Douglaston Manor facility have worked at top Manhattan restaurants such as Le Bernadin, Rain and the Four Seasons.
Remodeling details were still being hammered out. “We’re going to slowly renovate the place to bring it up to a high-end quality restaurant and catering facility,” said Bruccoleri. “Within a couple of years we should be finished with all the renovations.”
The partners recieved this news as their first combined business venture, 39 East, a new Asian-European fusion eatery in Bayside, has been preparing for a Jan. 21 opening.
Douglaston Manor sits on the Douglaston Golf Course, which will be managed by Douglaston Golf under a new contract.
The company currently runs the Forest Park Golf Course and Flushing Meadows Pitch and Putt as well as the Bronx Mosholu Golf Course.
Michael Tafet, a Douglaston Golf official, said his company would spend $3 million fixing up the course and putting in a new snack bar, bathrooms and other improvements to the clubhouse.
“We’re configuring the golf course so the golfers won’t be affected at all by the construction,” said Tafet.
The company will also provide a junior golf program like the one at Forest Park.
American Golf Corporation, which currently manages the Clearview Golf Course in Bayside and seven others in the city, was re-awarded management of the Clearview and five other courses.
A Parks Department spokeswoman said $3.4 million in renovations at Clearview would include course improvements and clubhouse reconstruction with a full-service cafe-style grill room, permanent outdoor dining pavilion and substantial landscaping.
The seven new contracts announced this month were expected to bring the city $180 million in rent and improvements.
The other courses included in the agreements are Staten Island’s South Shore and LaTourette courses, Brooklyn’s Dyker Beach Golf Course, and the Pelham and Split Rock courses in the Bronx.
The city will receive more than 22 percent of the seven courses’ revenue from greens fees, more than double the rate it has earned in the past, the Parks Department said.
Reach reporter Ayala Ben-Yehuda by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
