The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/25742
Photo by Tammy Doyle Bella Pockets is getting a split personality, complete with a different name. Acutally, it’s already happened. Starting last weekend, Forest Lane Bistro took over Bella Pockets’ downtown One- onta space in the evening to offer customers a completely different experience from the casual, take-out heavy Bella Pockets lunch spot. For dinner, the lighting is soft and low, and instrumental music plays. The menu includes specialties such as shrimp and crab macaroni and cheese, short rib sliders and shrimp fra diavolo. Bella Pockets walls have fresh coats of gray and maroon paint — a soothing change from the former white walls. Booths have been added, and every table is now against a wall or window. New light fixtures on the walls and hanging from the ceiling add a minimalist character. Even though the lunch and dinner experience at the two restaurants in one space are different, head chefs of each Paul Maertz and Chris MacLemon are on the same page with what they want the restaurant to be. The two grew up together in Morris and graduated from Morris Central School. They each honed their culinary skills outside of upstate New York, but they commit- ted to offering something new in Oneonta. “We want it to be a casual, laid-back restaurant that’s more modern and some- thing different for the 28- to 38-year-old crowd,” MacLemon said, adding that all ages would enjoy the restaurant, even though their target customers are in the same age range as themselves. Maertz has been operating Bella Pockets in Oneonta for eight years — from 2003 to 2008 it was in the General Clinton Plaza where Fiesta Mexican Grill is now. MacLemon moved back to the area in 2009 and opened Forest Lane Bistro at the Oneonta Country Club after working in three- and four-star kitchens in Manhattan, Westchester and Las Vegas. The two are excited at the possibilities of the partnership of menus, and said they will eventually have one name. They hope to begin offering beer and wine in the next few months, and on top of adult libations, they also plan to offer movie nights. Maertz said they got a great deal on a projector system, and then took it out of a closet to show it off. They said they’ll probably install a screen in front of the newly installed bar at the back of the restaurant. For 32-year-olds or anyone else, the combination of kitchens is something to be excited about on Main Street. _ Cassandra Miller BELLA POCKETS/FOREST LANE BISTRO 281 Main St., Oneonta 432-2534 lunch from Bella Pockets menu, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. dinner from Forest Lane Bistro menu, 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Feb. 24, 2011 O-Town Scene 13 restaurant features? E-mail Cassandra for more information at editor@otownscene.com Want to write area