New York Sun - November 1, 2007



Rise of Windsor Terrace Will Include a Taste of Down Under

By LYNNE MILLER

The Brooklyn neighborhood of Windsor Terrace is getting a taste of Australia with the opening of DUB Pies's second New York City store.

"Windsor Terrace is about to go through a renaissance," the New Zealand native who founded DUB, Gareth Hughes, said. He said he hopes to open his newest DUB on a prime corner before Thanksgiving. DUB, which specializes in savory meat and vegetarian pies popular in Australia, stands for Down Under Bakery.

The location of Mr. Hughes's second retail store is no surprise, as he happens to live in the neighborhood with his 4-year-old son, Daniel. "I'm attracted to the affluence of Park Slope on our doorstep, and its proximity to the park," he said. Windsor Terrace is becoming more desirable to small businesses, and the gap in rents between this area and neighboring Park Slope is narrowing, with a 1,000-square-foot retail space renting for $5,000.

"Rents are going up and the neighborhood is changing," a local real estate broker, Mary LaRosa Lederer, said. "We're getting different kinds of stores."

DUB was founded four years ago as a wholesale operation from a tiny commercial kitchen on Manhattan's Lower East Side. It later opened a retail store in Red Hook.

Its newest location, at Prospect Park West and 16th Street , will offer a more streamlined version of the full menu, including its popular steak-and-cheese pie and its curry vegetarian pie, both of which sell for $4.50 each. The pastries will be cooked at the Red Hook store, which has a fully equipped kitchen. Packed in white paper bags, the pies are easy to eat on the go, Mr. Hughes said.

"You can eat it out of the bag," he said.

In New Zealand and Australia, savory pastries are sold in convenience stores, supermarkets, bakeries, and pubs. "They're more commonly encountered than pizza in New York City," Mr. Hughes said.

DUB also offers fruit smoothies and espresso drinks, including the popular "flat white," a version of cappuccino. Desserts include the "lamington," an Australian specialty consisting of a sponge cake filled with jam and covered in chocolate and coconut. It sells for $3.

The 300-square-foot Windsor Terrace store will offer takeout and delivery, as well as seating for eight to 10 diners. Mr. Hughes expects the delivery business will make up the bulk of sales.

Mr. Hughes aims to eventually add several bakery items to his menu, and has hired a pastry baker to develop the line.

Beyond Windsor Terrace, Mr. Hughes has his sights set on opening more shops in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and ultimately around the country. Off and on, he has been scouting around Manhattan, primarily in Greenwich Village, for sites but the rents are daunting, he said.

Brownstoner.com first reported the planned opening of the new store.