Ken Tisuthiwong enjoys a cool drink and some hot wax at Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream. (
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(ELION PAZ)
On a weekday afternoon at Brooklyn’s Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream (81 Bergen St., Boerum Hill; 347-763-2979), customers read, sip coffee or enjoy ice cream. But manager Emily Norton, 24, is busy with a turntable, removing Elvis Costello’s “Armed Forces” for another of the 200-plus records on hand. She might also swap records with customers.
Vinyl is one bright spot in the troubled music business, with LP sales jumping from 2.8 million in 2010 to 3.9 million in 2011, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Now, city bars, restaurants and coffee shops have put their own spin on the trend. Here are our picks for where to nosh and listen to records — old and new — as they snap, crackle and pop.
Sweetleaf, 10-93 Jackson Ave.; Long Island City; 917-832-6726
You can park your laptop and java in the front area of this old-style coffee and tea shop. But many head right to the “record room” in the back to listen to owner Rich Nieto’s 200-
plus collection, divided into categories such as “rap/DJ,” “classic rock” and his favorite, “heavy f - - - ing metal.” The 4-year-old coffee shop opened the cozy record room, where customers play tunes, last year. “People who know vinyl know how to handle it,” says barista Prestin Yoder.
Black Gold Records, 461 Court St., Carroll ardens; 347-227-8227
Both strong coffee and hot wax sell well, says shop owner Jeff Ogiba.
“We don’t mess with CDs,” says Ogiba, 31, of his 4,000 records for sale. Ogiba opened the shop in 2010 because “it gets impersonal sharing things online,” he says, as the Rolling Stones’ “Their Satanic Majesties Request” skips in the background. Recently, he was thrilled to sell a Johnny Winter record to Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore: “I spent half my money on his records. I finally got to sell him an album.”
Goat Town, 511 E. Fifth St.; 212-687-3641
The quaint East Village farm-to-table restaurant’s 25 speakers are hooked up to a Technics turntable. “The snap, crackle and pop [of vinyl records] is warmer and more conducive to the dining experience,” says owner Nicholas Morgenstern. He and staffers spin a wide range of music, including instrumental versions of classic albums by Nas and the Wu Tang Clan.
Terroir Wine Bar, 439 Third Ave.; 212-481-1920
This wine bar’s Heavy Metal Monday nights are a strictly vinyl affair. And customers are welcome to BYOV. “When you think back to when you were a kid, buying a record was an event,” general manager Rienne Martinez says over Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak.”
Mono + Mono, 116 E. Fourth St.; 212-466-6660
Visiting this 18-month-old Korean restaurant is like stepping into a giant jukebox. More than 35,000 albums — mostly jazz — fill the shelves. When customers make a request, a motorized pulley system grabs the selected LP and brings it to a DJ booth overlooking the dining area. DJ Emil Hersche remembers when he started working here. “It was like I’d walked into my dream,” he says. “Vinyl was flying all around.”