Spencer Singer, the Great Neck native and half of the new ownership duo that recently purchased Hildebrandt’s in Williston Park, has made a career in the fashion space re-launching brands and creating a narrative through men’s apparel.
At 84 Hillside Ave., he begins his first chapter in the food space and has a lot he wants to say.
“This place really has such a story,” Singer said. “I want to be able to tell that story when you walk in.”
Singer and close friend, or “cousin,” Randy Sarf of Great Neck recently signed a 10-year lease with Hildebrandt’s new landlord, saving the iconic restaurant from an uncertain fate.
The two partners began talking in late April after Sarf found out about Hildebrandt’s unfortunate situation earlier this year.
The 14-table candy confectionery, restaurant and ice cream shop said in a post on its Facebook page in July 2020 that it would “no longer be in business within the next few months.”
The statement said that the closing was due to the building’s landlords deciding to sell it, and the new owners “creating something different,” and explicitly stated that the closure was “unrelated to COVID-19.”
On Feb. 2, the restaurant’s Facebook page posted an update saying that the new landlord is looking to increase monthly rent from $4,500 to $6,700. With nearly 100 years in business, the business had urged former and current village residents to help the store gain landmark status and preserve the Hildebrandt’s name.
The current team, consisting of previous owner Bryan Acosta, manager Tom Bauman and Acosta’s daughter Hunter will stay with Hildebrandt’s for at least a year.
First opened by Henry Hildebrandt in the late 1920s, the restaurant was sold to Alma Steffens in the 1950s. Steffens then sold it to Helen Baum in 1974, and Baum sold it to Alfred and Joanne Strano in 1975.
The Stranos later sold it to their daughter Susan, who owned and operated it with her husband, Bryan, from 2007 until her death in 2015. Since then until recently, Acosta has kept the store going with Hunter.
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Now with a new lease on life, figuratively and literally, Singer says Hildebrandt’s can take steps towards modernization while keeping the same charm that Long Island has come to love.
“For us, it’s about how we bring this place back to its glory and make it feel the way it did back in 1929,” Singer said. “Our plan is not to change what it feels like inside, just to make it better.”
Possible additions may include a new air-conditioning system, outside seating, a take-out window and infrastructure improvements, Singer said.
In the brief time he and Sarf have owned Hildebrant’s, Singer says the community support has been overwhelming.
“Whether it’s talking to a table of four different generations or someone stopping me outside and telling me their grandfather built the building, and the whole block, it makes me realize this responsibility we have,” Singer said. “Not as business owners but for these people. Responsibility for these stories and what it means to them.”
Films like “The Book of Henry,” starring Naomi Watts, and, most notably, Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” have used the shop’s frozen-in-time interiors to evoke a cozy soda fountain aesthetic.
In 2011, the restaurant was featured on the Food Network program “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” with manager Tom Bauman showing host and chef Guy Fieri a process for making butter pecan ice cream. Former owner Joanne Strano also appeared, making sauce and fried mozzarella with the chef. Fieri praised the location as “timeless.”
Singer also said there’s a “sleeper” for his favorite flavor on the menu among the ice cream made from scratch in Hildebrandt’s basement.
“The banana ice cream. So good,” Singer said. “Take your best banana bread and put it in an ice cream.”
