[Photo by Steven]
Caviarteria, which started as a Midtown retail and mail-order outlet for caviar and smoked salmon in 1952, is looking to open a restaurant-retail operation at 234 E. Ninth St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.
Walter Drobenko, a lawyer who took over the brand in 2006, is on January's CB3-SLA docket for a liquor license for the address. He previously ran a similar-sounding operating — the Caviarteria Beluga Bar — in Tribeca from 2013-2016. (You can read more about that here.)
According to the paperwork on file at the CB3 website (PDF here), this Caviarteria would have about 20 tables to accommodate up to 50 guests. The proposed hours are 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday; until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday; and 2 a.m. on Sunday. The questionnaire also mentions that the space would include "private events and catering events."
The menu would include caviar, smoked salmon, foie gras, blinis, etc. Here's the sample menu filed with the CB3 paperwork...
The address, currently a storage and parking space per the CB3 materials, would need an extensive build out to house the Caviarteria Beluga Bar. Drobenko, who grew up on the Lower East Side, is also a principal in the Cloister Cafe next door.
The Caviarteria name has a lot of history. In the late 1990s, the previous owners went on an expansion kick, opening Caviarterias in Las Vegas and Florida as well as in the SoHo Grand Hotel and Grand Central Terminal. (This story in the Times from 2003 has more on the family tragedy and feud that nearly destroyed the brand.) The business continues as an online mail-order operation.
This item will be heard during CB3's SLA committee meeting next Monday night (Jan. 8) at the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton. The meeting starts at 6:30.
31 comments:
no/can't/won't comment.......:)
Finally, a fishmonger!😬
Ah, more yup-scaling! The new wealthy overlords must have a place to eat that suits their lifestyle/ambition. And it's being done by an owner of the Cloister, known for fine food.
Yes, b/c everyone associates that stretch of 9th Street with Beluga caviar! Then you can walk a few blocks and breathe salt in a spa, or eat a steak dinner standing up. Is this a great neighborhood or what?!
Just disgusting and foie gras. Foie Gras should be banned. Animal cruelty- heart attack- gluttony.
Usual ridiculous comments. How about noting that this guy grew up here and wants to open a non chain business. Hos forbid a positive spin on a business opening.
That ostentatious menu is a trojan horse for selling $14 hip russian vodka drinks.
11:03am read my mind. Typical responses, the Gripers are starting 2018 the same way they started '17, '16, '15... you get my drift.
I do not like caviar myself, however I know this family. They went to school in the neighborhood, worked here, and now other family members own businesses. I would rather see a responsible owner, who knows the neighborhood, and is invested here to open a new business, rather some fly by night greedy individual. Good luck to them.
I cant wait to never afford to eat here.
Anon 1:08 you have convinced me to join the League of Gripers (LES Chapter)
The Drobenkos are a great, old East Village/LES family - this is local businessman with long roots in the community. But the mindless naysayers must prattle on, musn't they? it may be a bit pricey - but I'll give it a try because they are a multi generation NYC family.
@11:03am: Read the article; it's ALREADY a chain business.
They are opening a business here because they think they can make money... like Shake Shack... like Wagamama... like Martina... like Aimsworth... and ultimately like Moxy. They are upscaling the hood so why not?
The business has some interesting history:
https://nypost.com/2014/04/19/after-tragedy-new-owner-revitalizes-caviar-bar/
I think it's way overpriced for the neighborhood, but who knows, there's a lot of money being dropped around here.
Cmartty said it. I looked around 3rd Ave. from St. Marks to 14th St tonight and couldn’t believe how quickly it has been upscaled. The Moxie hotel and new office building on 3rd and St Marks will just accelerate it more. With McDonalds closed the local riff raff has already moved on. Shake Shack was busy tonight but not packed.. Martina even got some free PR on the news since the cold weather caused their sprinkler system to explode, flooding the restaurant. The Ainsworth is ready to explode with noisy crowds. By next summer this area will be like Murray Hill South. Welcome to BroDeo Drive.
Wasn't the Cloisters just proudly displaying support for Trump?
6:58 Thanks for posting. After reading the article I got sleaze chills all over my body that I normally only get from The Donald and Paul Manaford.
The fact that some of the people chiming in fail to see the overt atrocity of foie gras. Which is essentially a force feeding of a duck until it is so fucking sick, then killing it and eating it. I hope some day it happens to the people who do this. There is no merit to this place. It is an unlicensed, overpriced, rapacious disrespect to the neighborhood. Cheers to ignorance.
I'm not a griper and welcome new ventures to our neighborhood... But foie gras is disgusting and barbaric.
If you think this is pricey, The Bean just jacked up all their coffee prices. Happy New Year, and Welcome to 20PayTeen.
Like riff raff moving along is a bad thing.
The Murray Hill, douche-bro crowd has unrefined taste and are cheap. They'll never go for this place and I'm glad.
I'm looking forward to it. I love caviar. They also sell it at Russ and Daughters.
Activists-Please Act. If you can attend- the meeting is on Tuesday at the CB 3 office-59 E. 4th Street at 6:30. Or write a letter opposing this application. Send it through the CB 3 website.
Hey, if you want Russian, go visit the Baths on 10 Street. They didnt grow up on the LES, but you can choose between Boris or Dave --and get a reasonably priced Siberian Pelmeni!
I miss the days when we could just judge a business on its face, rather than having to wade into every freakin backstory and try to suss out whether the proprietor has the proper cred or not.
It's great that this proprietor is a local, but shouldn't that be just a prerequisite for, and not an instant guarantee of, credibility?
I love blinis and caviar.
lol
If you're going to get bent out of shape that someone might have a fancy night out, that says a lot more about the state of your life rather than about the business. Their highest end caviar is $145. That's a pretty reasonable price. Most of their items are quite reasonably priced and accessible. You don't need to be an oligarch to go here.
Ordinary people sometimes do like to splurge or have a special dinner. It's rather customary on anniversaries, birthdays, or sometimes just because people want to. If the idea that someone might splurge a few hundred bucks gets your panties in a twist, you need to first master the age old art of minding your own business. What other people have for dinner is just none of your concern. None. Secondly, if the fact that other people might spend a moderate amount of money on a minor luxury is something you can't handle, maybe you have some things in your own life that really need fixing.
I don't even like caviar, but the whiners and complainers here really need a proper STFU. It's like they think there is a box between the river, houston, bowery and 14th street that is like their own personal "safe space."
Glad you feel that way, cuz the time's coming -- sooner than you think -- when *you're* gonna be the riff raff that'll be sent moving along.
YEAH!!!!!! Need those OMEGAS!
Too happy thrilled and happy for words. After the L train shuts down getting out to Greenpoint to Acme Smoked Fish Retail Fridays looked bleak. FYI chk out the deals - cash only - smoked salmon at wholesale prices. http://www.acmesmokedfish.com:8585/about-us/fridays-retail-outlet
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