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Brickmen Kitchen + Bar to become Brickmen Cucina + Bar

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Kingston, NY – September 24, 2026 – Brickmen Kitchen + Bar, an Uptown Kingston restaurant and local favorite for the past three years, today announced it will become Brickmen Cucina + Bar beginning October 8th, marking a culinary evolution that has been taking shape in the kitchen for months. The rebrand formalizes a shift toward Italian-American cooking: real red sauce, fresh pasta, and family recipes passed down through owner Dave Amato's family. The transition has come together with the support of Jess Mino, a key member of the team behind both Brickmen Cucina + Bar and The Cornell Restaurant + Bar.

The name "Brickmen" has always been a tribute to Kingston's industrial history and to Amato's grandfather, Joseph "Joe" Amato, known to friends and family as "Skookie" and "Papa Joe." In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as infrastructure projects across the Hudson Valley and New York City fueled a booming brickmaking industry, Kingston's brickyards offered work to waves of European immigrants, Joe Amato among them. Joe later moved into the restaurant world himself, working as a maître d' and bartender, and Dave's father, Anthony "Red" Amato, went on to open two restaurants in his honor, Papa Joe's and Amato's. It was there, working alongside his father, that Dave learned the restaurant business. His work with his father and his family's Sunday dinner tradition (built on recipes passed down through generations) is what shaped his ideas about the kind of restaurant atmosphere he strives to create. Dave has continued a tradition of hospitality, and with the shift to Cucina + Bar, his family's legacy now extends from the restaurant's name into its kitchen.

This transition also fills a gap in Uptown Kingston for the kind of Sunday supper-style Italian dining many locals grew up on. Brickmen Cucina + Bar will take on that role with a menu designed to be approachable, true to the classics, and neighborhood-friendly, the way Brickmen has always operated, now with a clearer culinary identity behind it.

Amato is honoring his grandfather’s Kingston brickmaking legacy with a menu built on family recipes and Hudson Valley Italian-American tradition. “This isn't a new direction for us, it’s the direction we were always headed. My grandfather built a life here with his hands, and this kitchen is where our family’s food gets to tell that story,” said Dave Amato, owner of Brickmen Cucina + Bar.

What's on the Menu
  • A revived pasta program featuring seasonal sauces, including bolognese, vodka, vongole, aglio e olio, and cacio e pepe
  • Red's Meatballs, named for Dave's father, Anthony "Red" Amato
  • A shareable antipasti and bar snacks menu, built for the table
  • Classic Italian-American dishes, made shareable for two
  • New lunch offerings, including classic Italian sandwiches
  • Amato family favorites, brought back from the restaurant’s earliest days
  • Tiramisu, cannoli, and Amato's original carrot cake recipe for dessert, alongside the return of frozen yogurt as a nod to the original menu
About Brickmen Cucina + Bar
Beginning October 8th, Brickmen Kitchen + Bar will become Brickmen Cucina + Bar, an Uptown Kingston restaurant and local favorite owned and operated by Dave Amato, who also owns The Cornell Restaurant + Bar in Kingston. Named for Amato’s grandfather and the generations of Kingston brickyard workers who built the city, Brickmen Cucina + Bar will serve Italian-American food made with real ingredients, priced for regulars, in a bar-forward setting built for any night of the week. 

Brickmen Kitchen + Bar to become Brickmen Cucina + Bar

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