Biang! is hiring, and looks to be open soon in the former Alder space on 2nd Avenue

As we first reported last week, Xi'an Famous Foods owner Jason Wang is moving Biang!, his family-style Chinese restaurant, from Main Street in Flushing to 157 Second Ave.

The sign on the restaurant front here between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street notes that Biang! is now hiring servers and buspersons... with a December 2015 opening date.



So it sounds as if they are quickly converting the space of the previous tenant, Alder, chef Wylie Dufresne's bistro that closed after two-and-a-half years at the end of August.

As Eater noted, the well-regarded Biang! — which specializes in skewers and noodles — received one star from The New York Times. Biang! was also included on Michelin's Bib Gourmand list.

Biang! is on tonight's CB3 SLA committee docket for a beer-wine new liquor license.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Jason Wang bringing Xi'an Famous Foods offshoot Biang! to the former Alder space on 2nd Avenue

Chef Wylie Dufresne's former Alder space for rent on 2nd Avenue

[Photo by Vinny & O from Sept. 14]

After two-and-a-half years in business, Chef Wylie Dufresne closed Alder, his well-regarded bistro at 157 Second Ave., at the end of August.

As far as we understand, Dufresne never provided a reason for the closure, which took some fine-food watchers by surprise. (Eater, who first reported the news on Aug. 3, theorized that "it sounds like a rent hike might have something to do with it.")

Now the space between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street is on the market. Here are details via the listing at Sinvin:

Description:
• Gorgeous, brand new, custom, million dollar renovation built for a Michelin chef
• Fully built and equipped restaurant
• Full 2 am liquor license to be transferred
• Vibrant late night neighborhood in the heart of the East Village on the best block of Second Avenue
• 56 seats plus 15 at the bar and outdoor seating for 16
• Formerly Alder

Term:
8.5 years (possible extension to 10 years)

Price:
$17,389/month

Key Money:
$395,000

Commission is co-broke of 16% of the key money

Well, there will likely be plenty of commenters to take exception to the listing saying that this stretch here is "the best block of Second Avenue."

No. 157 was previously the address for several restaurants before Alder opened in the spring of 2013, including Plum … and Cafe Brama.

Wylie Dufresne is closing Alder on 2nd Avenue

[EVG photo from August 2013]

News made the rounds yesterday that chef Wylie Dufresne will close Alder at the end of this month.

Dufresne, who noted the closure on Twitter this past Friday evening, hasn't said why he's shutting down his well-regarded bistro at 157 Second Ave. near East 10th Street.

Eater, who first reported the news yesterday, theorized that "it sounds like a rent hike might have something to do with it."

Here are some thoughts from the Times on all this:

Like WD-50, Alder was a showcase for the chef’s inventiveness. He reconfigured ingredients with the help of a toolbox that included meat glue, and devised surprises like rye pasta with pastrami that tasted like a sandwich from Katz’s delicatessen nearby.

Mr. Dufresne is one of the few truly experimental chefs in New York, a city that has not been particularly generous in embracing molecular gastronomy and other avant-garde trends in food. He worked for Jean-Georges Vongerichten before opening 71 Clinton Fresh Food in a tiny space in 1999; in 2003 he opened WD-50 in somewhat grander premises across the street.

In his tweet, Dufresne did write that "The search for a new home begins…"

No. 157 was previously the address for several restaurants before Alder opened in the spring of 2013, including Plum … and Cafe Brama.

A look at 3 new East Village sidewalk cafes

Just noting three restaurants that have recently unveiled their new sidewalk cafes… (there are others — these just seemed more prominent) …

There's Alder at 157 Second Ave. …



The Brazen Fox at 106 Third Ave. (at East 13th Street) …



… and Boulton & Watt at 5 Avenue A (at East First/East Houston) …

Alder debuts its sidewalk cafe

CB3 signed off on a sidewalk cafe for Alder on Second Avenue back in June... and we just noticed that it's now up (well, sort of — the restaurant wasn't open for the day when this photo was taken...)

The eight-table, 16-seat patio made its debut on Friday...

Our patio opens tonight! Come by and enjoy the weather! pic.twitter.com/7KjEHkTHHH

— Alder (@aldernyc) August 16, 2013

The restaurant from noted LES chef Wylie Dufresne opened on Second Avenue near East 10th Street in late March.

EV Grieve Eatery Etc.: Power problems KO Alder's Friday night; here's Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken

Last Thursday night, several people noted the arrival of the FDNY at Alder, chef Wylie Dufresne's newish restaurant on Second Avenue...


[Photo by @jabell86]

Not sure exactly what transpired other than that the power went out... and that diners finished their meals by candlelight... The power issue kept the restaurant out of order on Friday night too...



Alder was back in business on Saturday.

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On Saturday, we took a look inside the incoming Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken on Second Avenue and East First Street... we haven't heard of any opening date yet... but it looks close...

Alder applies for a sidewalk cafe on Second Avenue

[Late March via @davidsokol]

Also on the June CB3/SLA docket: a sidewalk cafe license for Alder, the popular new restaurant from noted LES chef Wylie Dufresne. The restaurant opened on Second Avenue near East 10th Street in late March. CB3 approved the liquor license for Alder last August.

We'll have more on the rest of the CB3/SLA docket later.

Branding Alder

An EV Grieve Alder Watcher Reader was curious why there wasn't s sign up at noted LES chef Wylie Dufresne's new restaurant on Second Avenue near East 10th Street.

Don't when this happened, but there is a sign of sorts, according to the Alder Watcher Reader...





Branded into the woodwork...



No word if this is available in peel-and-stick tattoos as well.

This is the line to get into Wylie Dufresne's new restaurant Alder on Saturday

As you may have heard, noted LES chef Wylie Dufresne opened a new restaurant last Thursday called Alder on Second Avenue near East 10th Street.

Apparently it is popular.

@davidsokol passed along the above photo late Saturday afternoon... showing a line forming before the doors opened at 6. (Per the Alder website, the 56-seat restaurant does not accept reservations.)

In an opening preview last week in the Times, Florence Fabricant noted that Alder, "a complement to WD-50," serves "inventive twists on classics."

Such as!

The rye pasta includes pastrami, so with mustard sauce and pickles you have a homage to the pastrami on rye at the Second Avenue Deli, which used to be across the street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Wylie Dufresne bringing fancy cocktails for foodies

EV Grieve Eatery Etc.: Alder's rustic look; First Avenue's next noodle joint; Pudgie's empty canopy

Haven't done one of these roundups in some time...

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Progress at noted LES chef Wylie Dufresne's new pub called Alder, opening on Second Avenue near East 10th Street... looking rustic or cabin-y...



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EVG regular WIlliam Klayer notes the new "tapas and noodle bar" is opening at 141 First Avenue, which has been a few ramen places since its day as a fish market...







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... and, sadly, the iconic signage for the shuttered Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's action-packed combo on First Avenue has been stripped off the canopy. Note on the door still says "pardon our appearance during renovation."

Here's more about Alder, the new pub opening on Second Avenue from Wylie Dufresne

As you may know, noted LES chef Wylie Dufresne is opening a 50-seat pub that will serve "modern casual food and well-crafted cocktails," as Grub Street first noted last fall ... it will be at the former Plum Pizzeria at 157 Second Avenue near East 10th Street.

The New York Times today has more details on the menu and stuff.

[Mr. Dufresne] will specialize in what some might think of as a cubist spin on pub grub. There will be “stuff you can kind of graze and nibble,” as Mr. Dufresne put it: pigs in a blanket, clam chowder, Caesar salad, chicken liver toast, oxtail stew, calamari, pub cheese.

But in keeping with the chef’s style, each dish will be twisted into a surprising manifestation. That Caesar salad won’t come in a bowl; it will arrive as finger food, transformed into bite-size pieces of nigiri, with a sliver of charred, Parmesan-dusted Spanish mackerel resting on a rib of romaine lettuce and a dab of eggy sauce.

And, the Times notes, "no dish at Alder will cost more than $25."

Also!

Mr. Dufresne, 42, has family roots in Rhode Island, but he spent his adolescent years near where Alder will open. “The East Village is where I cut my teeth as a kid,” he said. “I ran around here on a skateboard.”

Previously on EV Grieve:
Wylie Dufresne bringing fancy cocktails for foodies (29 comments)