(Photo: Nicole Disser)
On Monday John Barclay, proprietor of Bushwick mainstay Bossa Nova Civic Club, announced on Facebook that he was no longer involved with Juno, the upscale-diner “date spot” that he opened up with the help of the same investors from his nightclub venture back in December. “It had become clear that the spot wouldn’t survive without the funding that I can’t provide,” he wrote, wishing the place well.
Inside Juno, John Barclay’s new Bushwick restaurant (Photo: Nicole Disser)
Last Friday, Juno — John Barclay’s stylish new restaurant, bar, and coffee spot just down the way from his raucous Bushwick dance club, Bossa Nova Civic Club — “quietly opened” its doors. When I stopped by yesterday, just a few people were sitting pretty, peering around the place (and allegedly dining too), inspecting it like a brand new spaceship had just landed off the Central Avenue stop. There was no pounding music to be heard, nor a fog machine in sight.
“We do have a DJ booth here, but it’s still quiet enough where you can have conversation,” Barclay explained. “We’ll be playing more mature stuff than my other place, for sure. Stuff that pairs well with dinner— funk, R&B, world music. It’s supposed to feel a little more romantic in here, a little more adult.”