“Ramen is an everybody’s food,” declares writer and director Robert Fontaine Jr., explaining the motivation behind opening Newburgh’s new shoebox Japanese spot. “It’s about creating an atmosphere where everyone can feel welcomed and have a good meal, drink, or socialize. We’re not as interested in turnover as much as in people just hanging out, starting conversations, and getting to know each other.” Situated at 47 Lander Street, District Ramen—opened by Fontaine and his wife Monica Coronatti—now stands next to the Downstate Cafe to offer a variety of Japanese cuisine in a residential neighborhood.
Fontaine and Coronatti came to live in Newburgh over a decade ago, where Fontaine worked to restore a two story carriage house. In 2013, he shot his third feature film, Mi America, entirely in the city of Newburgh. And in 2018, he cofounded the East x Northeast International Film Festival in an effort to help boost the local economy (The festival is currently on hiatus and aims to return in November).
Opening up some kind of business was always in the cards. “Anybody that would come to invest in Newburgh always looked toward the other side of Broadway,” says Fontaine. “That’s normal; it’s more developed and felt safer. But we always recognized the inherent beauty of this side and thought if we got anything off the ground here, it would definitely become a destination point.”
Getting District Ramen up and running was a long process. The couple purchased the space in 2018, then dedicated two years to renovations and another year to remodeling. During the renovation process, two-thirds of the back of the building was transformed into a cavern due to sewage damage on the top floor—a result of neglect by the previous landlord. “This building was in horrible shape,” says Fontaine. “We thought we could get away with opening a few walls, but we saw that it really needed a fine restoration. I did a complete gut of it with my assistant, Ronald McCarthy, who is now the restaurant manager.”
They also had to navigate local politics. “There were a lot of complications with the city in general,” says Fontaine. “As much as I love Newburgh and all the pillars in central government, they can also get in their own way. We had issues with our sidewalks; we couldn’t open up after we finished them because, even though the code inspector had already approved them, they quit two weeks later and didn’t enter that approval into the system.”
For the aesthetic of the spot, they sought to evoke the ambiance of a 40s or 50s social club, steering away from the traditional trappings of Japanese style restaurants. A vibrant sun mural by Pat Nunnari of Newburgh’s King Street Sign Co., inspired by Japanese art deco, illuminates the brick wall behind the bar. “I had a friend who owned an old diner in Brooklyn and made it into a taco house,” says Fontaine. “He kept the look of the diner, and it’s absolutely great. I wanted that kind of cross-concept here.”
In the quest for an authentic ramen identity, Fontaine and Coronatti enlisted the expertise of chefs Tohma Nagai and Timothy Rendon, who own ramen establishments on the Upper East Side (Naruto Ramen and Nishida Sho-ten). Over the course of a year, they collaborated to develop recipes and train staff. “True ramen is an art form,” says Fontaine. “The process for each broth can take up to thirteen hours, and everything needs to be timed for perfection. The majority of ramen shops usually use pre-packaged ‘tare’ sauces. We, for the most part, make everything in-house, and certain ingredients are specialized and need to be imported.”
The current menu offers a variety of items. These include gyoza, takoyaki, steamed buns, and four ramen options—each featuring a distinct broth base. To complement the meal, they also serve sake by the cup and feature a rotating selection of beers on tap.
District Ramen opened on Valentine’s Day, it’s been buzzing with activity ever since. “We’ve been slammed,” says Fontaine. “Just really packed every night. At first, we started promoting lunch hour and dinner hour at the same time, but we realized we didn’t have enough refrigeration space. We’ll probably be forced to have an outdoor cooler to meet the demand. It’s been great, and I think it’s a wonderful problem to have.”
They’ve just opened up again for lunch, with takeout and online ordering to follow. Other tentative future plans for District Ramen include developing the lot behind the shop into an event space with spillover seating, as well as adding an upper deck lounge above the Downstate Cafe—which is connected to District Ramen—that would accommodate more patrons during peak seasons. Fontaine also hints at experimenting with live music and a scaled-down cocktail menu featuring four or five Japanese cocktails.
There are also plans to expand the current ramen offerings to include a total of six options, along with a few additional menu items. Still, Fontaine emphasizes that, “it’s never going to be an extensive menu like most places can have. People who come here and come back know exactly what they want when they show up. I think that’s the key to successful places this size.”
Looking ahead, Fontaine hopes that District Ramen will play a role in revitalizing the area. “We wanted a business that brought the community together but could also be a route for middle-class traffic to flow through. Corner spots are usually places to anchor communities in general. At some point here, there were a lot of shops and family owned businesses. It’s all there—the layers just need to be peeled back. Having grown up in Brooklyn, it’s the same; I’ve seen a lot of neighborhoods come back over the years.”
