The new and improved promenade in Margate
oatawa / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Photo by Tom Briglia
Shirat Hayam continued during the pandemic
Last summer, they could only allow a small
since it was outside. Now, even as the pandemic
percentage to dine inside. Th is year, though,
fades, the tradition won’t.

with indoor dining open in full, borough offi -
“Basically, all summer we have a full sched-
cials wanted to use the space for parking again,
ule,” the rabbi said. “It’s gotten to the point
Nika said.

where some people are concerned we’re off ering
Yet in a choice between parking spots and
outdoor seating, Longport residents chose seat-
too much.”
ing. Th ree hundred people signed a petition
Krauss and Kremer both believe that in-per-
asking for the tents to be allowed for a third
son events are essential. As Kremer asked, what
Lucy the Elephant
Courtesy of the Save Lucy Committee
straight summer.

is community without them?
Nika said the customer is right. Th e owners
“People need people,” Krauss added.

of the
businesses wanted to give people the option
Kremer estimates that upward of 200 people kitchen, juicery and market with existing locations
of eating
outside. sometimes attend the “Devotion by the Ocean” in Ocean City and Paoli.

Last summer, two tents allowed the restaurants to
services. He called praying and singing together
And Tony Boloney’s, the well-known pizza brand
open an additional 55 seats, according to Nika. She
while looking out at the ocean an “uplift ing spiritual with locations all over New Jersey, is turning its food
said she
would do her best to maintain that capacity,
experience.” truck attraction at the Margate Farmers Market into a
or something
close to it, in 2022, but labor shortages
But synagogue will not be the only place where summer-long spot behind Tomatoes on the promenade.

may make
it diffi
cult. locals can fi nd that type of experience. According to
“It’s exciting,” Courter said.

“People have
gotten used to eating outside, and
Anna Maria Courter, the executive director of the
Yet even what’s old in Margate is making an eff ort
they like
it,” she
added. “Especially when you’re
Margate Business Association, things are happening to become new this summer. Th e restaurants along
down at
the shore.

You want
to be outside. You don’t
all over town, most notably at the newly completed Ventnor Avenue have added outdoor tables, according
promenade along Amherst Avenue.

want to
be inside.”
to Courter. And several bars/restaurants, Bocca Coal
Th e wooden walkway, which runs parallel to the Fired Bistro, Ventura’s Greenhouse Restaurant, Robert’s
Th e renovation of Lucy has faced similar issues,
bay, was completed last spring, but “enhancements Place and Maynard’s Café, are starting a Margate like a labor strike, a disrupted supply chain and
are ongoing,” Courter said. She called the 2022 sea- Cornhole League with 90 teams and 180 people.

a broken sprinkler pipe, all of which prevented
son the fi rst in which the promenade, with its sunset
Every Monday from 6:30-8:30 p.m., you play at a the committee from hitting its original begin-
views, lights and outdoor seats, will be open in full. diff erent location. Because why not make Monday ning-of-summer target for completion.

As she described it, people can get breathtaking night fun? Courter says there is a waiting list to join
Yet Helfant pledges to fi nish the project no matter
how long it takes. He grew up in Margate playing
views, then fi nd a place to eat dinner or dessert. the league.

miniature golf and hanging out at Lucy, he said. So
Every dinner place along the promenade, from Sofi a
And the post-COVID spirit is not limited to
he promises
that the elephant attraction will look
Restaurant to Maynard’s Café to Tomatoes, has Margate/Ventnor, either. Just south of Margate
“like you
remember her but everything will be new.”
embraced outdoor seating.

in Longport, neighboring restaurants Ozzie’s
“She was
such an
important part of the develop-
“It’s a newly reconfi gured outdoor experience,” Luncheonette and Catch Restaurant & Bar got approval
ment of
the South
Jersey shore,” he explained. “And
from borough offi cials to bring back the sidewalk din-
Courter said.

she’s the
only thing
like it
on Earth. How many six-
In addition to the promenade, several new busi- ing tents that they used the past two summers.

story giant
elephants are
there?” In 2020, the restaurants needed the outdoor seat-
JE nesses are hitting the Margate scene this year. Shop
Sixty Five is a clothing store on Jerome Avenue with ing because they had to close their indoor dining
“all of the new fashions,” as Courter put it. Aneu is a areas, according to Lekie Nika, the owner of Ozzie’s. jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 17