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B&H owner Fawzy Abdelwahed with his wife, Ola, left, and Bernadette Nation from the Department of Small Business Services, who has been helping the restaurant obtain permits and navigate through complicated agency bureaucracy. Photos by Yannic Rack
BY YANNIC RACK | After more than four months and lots of nail-biting, B&H kosher dairy on Second Ave. finally reopened Friday morning with a line of loyal customers stretching out the door.
An East Village staple since the 1930s, the restaurant closed after the gas explosion and fire in March that leveled three buildings near the corner of E. Seventh St. on the same block as B&H.
After the catastrophe, Fawzy Abdelwahed, who runs the dairy restaurant with his wife, Ola, struggled to pay the rent and expenses while he had to update the gas facilities, mandated by the city after the explosion.
“It was very close. For a while I really lost hope,” he said on Friday, while his staff — all of whom have returned — dished out challah and coffee to the enthusiastic locals that packed the small shop.
“I’m feeling great,” he added with a smile. “All my customers, all my friends — everybody’s here.”
Mike Tarabih, who has worked at B&H for a decade, working the grill for the hungry customers at the counter.Customers lined up outside the restaurant before the gas was turned back on.Longtime regular customers dug into their usual B&H breakfasts for the first time in almost five months. Dan Efram, right, has been coming to B&H for 23 years.All of the employees returned to the restaurant on Friday. Bona Sanga, right, has been the cook there for seven years.Fawzy Abdelwahed, the owner, sporting the dairy’s signature T-shirt.
