Monro Means Another Bed-Stuy Wine Bar

Team behind Che and Sincerely, Tommy expands Bed-Stuy footprint

Move over Cicchetti (185 Howard Ave.), and Selune (478 Halsey St.), and Gladys Books and Wine (306 Malcolm X Blvd.) and Therapy (260 Malcolm X Blvd.)—and also Frog (358 Marcus Garvey Blvd.). The owners behind wine bar/coffee shop/vegan restaurant Che (302 Malcolm X Blvd.) are opening Monro (343A Tompkins Ave.), a new wine bar by Herbert Von King Park.

First, a page populated on Instagram. Then, someone claimed a spot on Google, which lists the same address shared by Sincerely, Tommy (343 Tompkins Ave.) and the Tompkins Ave. branch of Che.

Monro’s registered agent is co-owner Tyler Ortiz, a co-owner of Che. July DOB permits confirm a “moderate interior renovation” for a bar, along with updates to the storefront. No alcohol permits have been filed for the address, and Che’s Tompkins outpost does not have a liquor license.

When asked, one employee at Sincerely, Tommy said that Monro is set to open at the end of fall.



Monro is an expansion of operations on the southeast corner of Tompkins and Monroe, which started in 2014 when owner Kai Avent-deLeon opened Sincerely, Tommy. What began with clothing has since become a lifestyle brand, as everything does these days.

At one point, Avent-deLeon’s brand almost expanded with S,T Eat & Stay, a “Boutique Hostel & Eatery” that was to open in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, per Anna Bradley-Smith in Brownstoner. The space, a family home of Avent-deLeon, was later repurposed into what became Che.

But fear not—the owners “all are native New Yorkers,” per BK Mag. The change is homegrown. Avent-deLeon also co-founded Building Black Bed-Stuy, which provides financial assistance to Black-owned neighborhood businesses and organizations.

Bed-Stuy, now at least, is famous for its wines, or will be soon. A neighborhood: one big bodega (finally written in the traditional sense).


Photos by Aaron Tomey.

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