COXSACKIE — If the intent was to quietly open Patrick Henry’s Waterfront Tavern this past weekend, the next venture for second-generation Albany restaurateur Dominick Purnomo, it failed.
The pub, in a historic building on a riverfront property that also includes the forthcoming James Newbury Hotel and the already operating The Wire Event Center, hosted about 50 people on an invite-only basis on Thursday. Inside, it seats 48, plus 12 at the bar. Patrick Henry’s served 229 customers on Friday, 170 on Saturday, with waits for tables at times stretching to 90 minutes to two hours, according to Purnomo. It maintains a call-ahead waiting list but does not accept reservations except for parties of 10 or larger.
A skilled and frequent user of social media for the Albany restaurants Yono’s and dp: An American Brasserie, which he took over last summer after the retirement of his parents, Purnomo deliberately kept online news minimal about Patrick Henry’s in recent weeks. At the moment, its only official social media account is on Instagram, @patrickhenryswt, and he didn’t formally announce the opening of the tavern until the day before.
And yet it thronged with people, about 80 percent from within a 10-mile radius, Purnomo estimated.
“Anticipation was high from the locals,” Purnomo said. “We’ve had 10 to 20 people a day poking their heads in the door while we were working to ask when we’d be open.”
That is in part because Patrick Henry’s is part of a $12 million waterfront project that has had a yearslong gestation. Delays were caused by problems including a stop-work order from the village last year after it was discovered that the hotel and The Wire were larger than the approved plans originally submitted by hotel owner Aaron Flach, a property developer based in Greene County. The Wire, with a capacity of about 400 for seated meals and 1,000 for receptions,…
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