The Abbey on Butler Street quietly opened last week, giving Lawrenceville a new spot for coffee, dinner and drinks – with ample parking.
The brainchild of business partners Chris McAleer and Eric Kukura, the Abbey will offer three distinct dining experiences within one historical building. A coffee shop that serves coffee, tea and grab and go bites, a full service restaurant that’s helmed by chef Thomas Christakos, and three different bars are scattered around the location.
McAleer and Kukura bought the property back in 2013, and spent a couple of years figuring out the bones of the place (which has been, among other things, a church meeting hall, a stonemasony, a brass foundry, and a funeral home), and plotting their next move. Eventually, they decided to use the unique layout of the raw space to their advantage, and create a mixed-used, three-business food and dining mecca.
Maintaining a sense of history throughout the renovations was important to McAleer. “We spent a lot of time on the interior, really creating a richness to the space,” he says. While some items – church pews, stained glass windows – were specially made for the Abbey, a big rose window was salvaged from a local church and suspended from the roof in the main dining room.
Finding the right chef was the next step.
McAleer and Kukura landed on Christakos, thanks in large part to a strong audition in McAleer’s home kitchen. “He came out with a Scotch Egg that was light, delicate, but packed with flavor. And the green chili sauce he made? It’s worth bottling.”
Christakos, who spent time working in kitchens in both Pittsburgh and Portland, has introduced a menu that leans heavily towards Asian and Latin American flavors (Lemongrass Chicken Skewers, Papas Bravas and Bahn Mi are current offerings), but also serves up American classics, like a bacon burger with smoke provolone and a daily steak option.
The bars will offer specialty beer and wine, and a nitro machine that McAleer says the staff is eager to experiment with. “We can make a margarita fizz like a Guinness,” he says. “It’s going to be fun to see what else they come up with.”
The draft line is 20 taps deep, and the bar staff will keep a rotating selection of specialty craft cocktails on menu.
In warmer weather, an outdoor patio with seating for 100 will be open, with an ornate cast iron swan fountain, a carved stone fireplace, and (unusual for Lawrenceville) a parking lot.
Currently, the Abbey is open from 6:30 a.m to 2:00 a.m. daily, and McAleer says that daily lunch service and weekend brunch service will launch soon.
The Abbey on Butler Street (4635 Butler Street)
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