David Sheridan in front of his home backyard pizza oven. [Photograph: Adam Kuban]
Hurricane Sandy delivered a nasty blow to the buildout progress of Ditmas Park's newest pizzeria, Wheated. The restaurant, as Adam mentioned in September, was slated to open their doors at 903 Church Ave in early 2013. And despite the hurricane laying waste to their Moretti Forni electric ovens in the form of total saltwater submersion, that is still the plan. The ruined equipment, tallying $30,000, was in storage in Coney Island during the storm, and according to this post on Ditmas Park Corner, their insurance companying is denying theta claim. Furthermore, while the city has set up emergency loan programs to help businesses get back on their feet, because Wheated isn't an open business yet, they can't apply for the available loans. However, the post goes on to mention that David Sheridan and his wife and business partner Kim McAdam are considering community fundraising as a way to recoup the costs.
Our condolences go out to the Wheated crew, and we at Slice hope to be kept abreast of any community fundraising efforts to help get this much anticipated pizzeria up and running!
About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.