Report: Rent hike forcing the Bourgeois Pig out of its East Village home

[Photo from November 2011]

A rent hike has KO'd the Bourgeois Pig from its 10-year-old home at 117 E. Seventh St., Eater reports.

The fondue-wine place between Avenue A and First Avenue will close after its lease expires in February. However, the Bourgeois Pig faithful can take some solace in that a new location opens next week in the West Village.

The Bourgeois Pig enjoyed worldwide acclaim in 2010 after the front the building (complete with a temporary sidewalk cafe) served as a backdrop during filming for multiple Academy-Award winner "The Smurfs Movie."

The Bourgeois Pig closes on East 7th Street with move to the West Village

That's it for The Bourgeois Pig on East Seventh Street. The wine-cheese bar closed after service on Saturday.

We spotted workers yesterday taking apart the Pig's exterior here between Avenue A and First Avenue.

As Eater previously reported, a rent hike was behind the 10-year-old bar's East Village closure.

However, there is a new Bourgeois Pig location now open at 127 MacDougal St.

This is the second business on this block to decamp to the West Village this month. Gingersnap's Organic closed its 3-year-old home at 130 E. Seventh St. for a move to West 10th Street.

Previously.

Rent reduction at the former Bourgeois Pig space on East 7th Street

As previously noted, the former Bourgeois Pig space at 111 E. Seventh St. has been on the rental market. According to a listing, the storefront between Avenue A and First Avenue had been asking $10,500.

Perhaps a prospective tenant found the price too high? This message appeared on the door the other day...



Interestingly enough, the rent was recently reduced ... down to $7,750 monthly...



The Bourgeois Pig closed for good in late January, moving to a new location on MacDougal Street. As Eater reported back in November, a rent hike was behind the 10-year-old bar's East Village closure.

Ravi DeRossi moving Ladybird to the East Village; taking residence at former Bourgeois Pig space

[Photo of 111 E. 7th St. from last October]

Last summer, restaurateur Ravi DeRossi turned his Bourgeois Pig into vegan tapas bar Ladybird over on MacDougal Street in the West Village. (DeRossi started going meat free on the menus at his establishments in early 2016. Ladybird sends part of its profits to DeRossi's BEAST Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending animal cruelty.)

Now, DeRossi plans to relocate Ladybird to 111 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue — the original home of The Bourgeois Pig before its move to the West Village in late January 2015. (Eater reported back in November 2014 that a rent increase was behind DeRossi's decision to pack up the 10-year-old bar.)

"The landlord has offered me a very fair deal, so I have decided to move Ladybird from MacDougal to Seventh Street, where it should have been in the first place," DeRossi, whose home and office is in the East Village, told us via email.

Next month, he will appear before CB3's SLA committee for a new beer-wine license for No. 111.

The previous No. 111 tenant, the wine bar Virgola, closed last October after 10 months in business.

Former Bourgeois Pig space for rent on East 7th Street

[EVG photo from late January]

The Bourgeois Pig closed for good in late January at 111 E. Seventh St. As Eater reported back in November, a rent hike was behind the 10-year-old bar's East Village closure.

There's now a listing via Sinvin (the PDF is here) for the storefront between Avenue A and First Avenue ... "perfect for any use, food or retail"...



The asking rent is $10,500.

As for The Bourgeois Pig, the wine-cheese bar opened a new location at 127 MacDougal St.

Previously.

Oysters coming to the former Bourgeois Pig space on East 7th Street

We'll continue to look at some of the applicants on CB3's SLA committee meeting for September.

There's a new applicant looking to take over the former Bourgeois Pig space at 111 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. According to paperwork (here's the PDF) at the CB3 website, Joseph Marazzo, who owns Virgola over on Greenwich Avenue, is opening a second location of his oyster-and-Italian-wine bar here. He is seeking a beer and wine license.

The questionnaire on file at CB3 shows daily hours of 11 a.m. to midnight ... with room for eight tables (seating 29) and a bar for 17 patrons. The paperwork includes a sample menu for Virgola...





Marazzo told DNAinfo that the East Village location will have the same vibe as the original — "with a dimly lit, black interior similar to the Greenwich Avenue bar and a new steel bar."

"It’s dark and sexy, more of an aphrodisiac style of an oyster bar," he said.

Virgola will have some oyster competition here, as Desnuda is across the street ... not to mention Good Night Sonny, which recently opened on First Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

The Bourgeois Pig closed for good in late January, moving to a new location on MacDougal Street. As Eater reported back in November, a rent increase was behind the 10-year-old bar's East Village departure.

The SLA meeting is at the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Will "The Smurf Movie" give The Bourgeois Pig any ideas?

Last night, "The Smurfs Movie" came to life on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue... and The Bourgeois Pig had a starring role... at least the fictitious sidewalk cafe that was put up by the crew for the scene... in which lead Neil Patrick Harris exited a cab and walked into 111 E. Seventh St. next door... However, given how the sidewalk cafe looks, will the Pig brass get any ideas about opening their own now...? Would this get ok'd by CB3?




The crew set up the tables very early ... around 6:30 a.m. yesterday...

Incoming sign of Virgola on East 7th Street

The signage has arrived at 111 E. Seventh St. for Virgola, the Greenwich Village-based oyster-and-wine cafe that's opening an outpost here between Avenue A and First Avenue...



Owner Joseph Marazzo told DNAinfo in August that the East Village location will have the same vibe as the original — "with a dimly lit, black interior similar to the Greenwich Avenue bar and a new steel bar."

The previous tenant here, The Bourgeois Pig, closed after 10 years in late January, moving to a new location on MacDougal Street.

Photos by EVG contributor Steven…

Previously on EV Grieve:
Oysters coming to the former Bourgeois Pig space on East 7th Street

The future of 95 Avenue A

Just confirming one thing from Monday night's CB3/SLA meeting. Our reader in attendance thought that the people behind Cien Fueguos -- coming to 95 Avenue A at Sixth Street -- also had something to do with Death & Co. and Bourgeois Pig.

Indeed, that's the case, as Eater's Gabe Ulla reported:

Cienfuegos restaurant (95 Ave. A) was the rare case of a new app within a resolution area receiving unanimous approval from the board. The restaurant’s team, which consists of Luis Gonzalez (ex-Mercer Kitchen) and Death & Co. and Bourgeois Pig operatives, knew exactly what they had to do to sway the board: they presented petitions with over 1,000 signatures, demonstrated the public benefit from having a straight-up Cuban restaurant in a city that doesn't have many of them, and stressed their nearly immaculate records.

I'm all for "a straight-up Cuban restaurant," but, given the pedigree of the owners here, is the neighborhood in for, say, $26 mojitos?

Ladybird about a month away from opening on 7th Street

The exterior is shaping up over at 111 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, where Ravi DeRossi has relocated his vegan tapas bar Ladybird ... the signage arrived this week...



Despite the progress from the outside, DeRossi said in an email that they're still a month out from opening.

For a quick recap: This space was home to DeRossi's Bourgeois Pig, which relocated to the West Village after 10 years due to an increase in rent. He changed the name to Ladybird last summer as his restaurants started going meat free. (Ladybird sends part of its profits to DeRossi's BEAST Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending animal cruelty.) And now Ladybird has migrated to the east, as we first reported in April.

The previous No. 111 tenant, the wine bar Virgola, closed last October after 10 months in business.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ravi DeRossi moving Ladybird to the East Village; taking residence at former Bourgeois Pig space

Noted

Speaking of Time Out's bar guide, here are the five East Village places they selected as "the best for winter":

Blind Pig

Bourgeois Pig

Ella

Grape and Grain

Section 8

Hmm. Reaction?

Openings: Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar, Virgola

Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar is now in service at 345 E. Sixth St. just west of First Avenue. As we first reported, the restaurant is a larger extension of Shane Covey's Upstate, which is still in business around the corner at 95 First Ave. He described Edwin and Neal's as a neighborhood fish place.

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On East Seventh Street, an outpost of the Greenwich Avenue-based Virgola, an oyster and wine bar, has opened at 111 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
More about Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar, coming soon to East 6th Street

Oysters coming to the former Bourgeois Pig space on East 7th Street

Mikey's Pet Shop for rent

Last fall, we covered the saga of Mikey's Pet Shop on Seventh Street near Avenue A... the shop eventually closed...



At the time, some readers and Mikey's patrons passed along several tidbits....one reader said that she was told a nail salon is already in place to take over the store... and that Mikey's had to close because the landlord was reportedly raising the rent to $20,000 a month.

A "for rent" sign is now out front....



According to the listing:

Approx 600 SF

$4,500/month

Available Immediately

Available for any use as per Zoning

So no nail salon — yet. It will cost a bundle to turn this place into any kind of eatery...but that's my guess now...something to complement Butter Lane, Porchetta and The Bourgeois Pig on this stretch of Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue A....

Previously on EV Grieve:
Mikey's Pet Shop closing at the end of the month

More on 95 Avenue A: Private chef's lounge and a rum punch bar

Keep seeing more details about what's coming to 95 Avenue A at Sixth Street. Sounds like quite the little empire. This detail is from Metromix:

From a team featuring alum from Mayahuel, Death & Co., and Bourgeois Pig, Carteles is the first of a four-part planned series of Cuban-themed bars and restaurants collectively known as Cienfuegos. The other phases include a rum punch bar, a more formal Cuban restaurant, and a private chef's lounge, but for now this tiny storefront is serving a menu of carefully curated sandwiches.

This all suddenly seems like less of a restaurant and more of a scene.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon: Work starts on Cienfuegos at long-dormant (and soon-to-be-expanded) 95 Avenue A

Something finally coming to 95 Avenue A

Openings: Broken Coconut, Ladybird, the Lost Lady, the Hairy Lemon

[Healthy Coconut photo from Sept. 8]

Broken Coconut, the health-conscious restaurant from Butter/1Oak founder Scott Sartiano, opens today at 15 E. Fourth St. between Lafayette and Broadway, according to the Post.

The Post notes the menu will include a probiotic, protein-rich yogurt with a coconut base.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Checking in on the former Other Music space, soon to be a health-focused restaurant

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Ravi DeRossi's vegan bar-restaurant opened at 111 Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue on Sept. 5. Eater has more about the space, which counts musician/animal-rights activist Moby as an investor.

Find the Ladybird website here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ravi DeRossi moving Ladybird to the East Village; taking residence at former Bourgeois Pig space

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The Lost Lady, from Robert Ceraso and Jason Mendenhall, the co-owners of The Wayland and Good Night Sonny, opened last Wednesday at 171 Avenue C between 10th Street and 11th Street. This marks their third attempt at opening another bar along Avenue C. Plans for both the former Duke's space and current Royale fell through.

The space was originally going to go by The Drift Inn.

"Somebody opened a bar called the Drift Inn in Brooklyn a couple of months after we started working on that space," Ceraso told me earlier this summer. "It actually makes more sense for the space now. Once we got in there and started getting a feel for the bones of the space, our design went a lot more old nautical feeling. The Lost Lady feels to us like it could be the name of an old ship or a story that a fisherman would tell you."

Grub Street has a preview of the Lost Lady here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Evelyn Drinkery has closed on Avenue C

Wayland team opening Drift Inn at former Evelyn Drinkery space on Avenue C

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[Image via Facebook]

The Hairy Lemon opened last Wednesday in the former Croxley Ales space, 28 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street. The place serves traditional Irish pub fare and sports 20 TVs.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Croxley Ales-replacing bar on Avenue B is called the Hairy Lemon

Week in Grieview

[Photo of 2nd Avenue Friday evening by Regina Shvartsman]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Permits filed for 6-story building in long-empty lot at 89 First Ave. (Monday)

Ravi DeRossi moving Ladybird to the East Village; taking residence at former Bourgeois Pig space (Thursday)

Alphabet Scoop open for the season on 11th Street (Saturday)

Preliminary vote on increases for rent-stabilized apartments (Tuesday)

Out and About in the East Village, 2017 recap (Wednesday)

Reader report: A car drives in the First Avenue bike lane (Thursday, 40 comments)

Katrina del Mar's "Feral Women/Filmed Portraits" exhibit is up through May 18 (Thursday)

Another sign of spring: the annual Dance Parade is May 20 (Friday)

The Black Rose has closed on Avenue A; welcome Tompkins Square Park Art Bar (temporarily) (Thursday ... Friday)

Silverstone Property Group gets to work on buildings (previously) owned by Raphael Toledano (Monday)

Townhouse rich in art history for sale on 11th Street; air rights included (Wednesday)

More about Artichoke's move across 14th Street (Wednesday)

Pop-up bubble tea exhibit brings crowds to the Bowery (Monday)

Own Olympic snowboarding champ Shaun White's A Building condo (Friday)

Sandwicherie opens on Fourth Avenue (Tuesday)

A retail vacancy at 51 Astor Place (Monday)

Yuan Noodle in the works for the former Biang! space on Second Avenue (Tuesday)

Whole Foods Market® Bowery replacing beer with coffee in prime corner spot (Tuesday)

Something for future generations to discover on Second Avenue (Tuesday)

Ben Shaoul's East Houston Street condoplex makes first street-level appearance (Monday)

...and practicing for the upcoming Shirts vs. Skins ping-pong tourney...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

... and like 10 days later, no one picked up the table as they promised to do tomorrow...



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EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Looking at the ruins of 185-191 Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

A brownstone is neutered on East 12th Street (Off the Grid)

An update on the new Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) (The Villager)

Take a subway ride from Union Square to Coney Island in 1987 (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

More about the Ruff Club (for dogs) opening at 34 Avenue A (DNAinfo)

More on the 7-Eleven drama at Seward Park (The Lo-Down)

New Yorkers becoming heavier (Gothamist)

Fantastic photo of Debbie Harry in front of CBGB (Flaming Pablum)

Noted: Bourgeois Pig now selling wine spritzers on tap (Grub Street)

Maserati owner leaves car idling, unattended in Times Square. Guess what happens next? (Runnin' Scared)

WPIX was the lone media outlet outside 116 Avenue C this morning... where a woman was violently robbed last Saturday... here is the WPIX report.

[Photo by Matt LES_Miserable]

And this morning, Chico started work on a new mural in the backyard space at Tompkins Square Bagels on Avenue A at East 10th Street...

[Photo by Shawn Chittle]

On the May CB3/SLA docket: Takers for the former Back Forty space; new Ravi DeRossi venture

[The former Back Forty space on Avenue B]

CB3 released its slate of meetings for May yesterday … including for the SLA licensing committee.

For starters, the meeting is May 18 at the CB3 office (BYOB), 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Here's a look at some of the East Village-related items. (We don't have any info on the applicants just yet.)

Applications within Saturated Areas

• JMR Dining LLC, 190-192 Ave B (op)

An applicant for the former Back Forty space. The seemingly popular restaurant rather abruptly shut down after service on Dec. 21.

• Benemon (Drak Inc), 171 Ave A (op)

And an applicant for the former BAD Burger space between East 10th Street and East 11th Street. BAD closed in March after three-plus years.

Sidewalk Cafe Application

• Root & Bone (Root & Bone LLC), 200 E 3rd St (unenclosed)

Alterations

• Hearth (Hearth Restaurant Investors LLC), 403 E 12th St (op/alt/extend license to sidewalk cafe)

We discussed the possible sidewalk cafe last July.

New Liquor License Applications

• The Northern Spy Food Company (The Northern Spy Food Co LLC), 511 E 12th St (upgrade/op)

• Koufuku LLC, 342 E 6th St (op)

• Hou Yi Spicy Inc, 97 2nd Ave (bw)

As we first reported back in March, Hou Yi Hot Pot is converting the former laundromat into a restaurant here between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street.

Items not heard at Committee (no vote, no public input)

• Verdura (Derossi Veg LLC), 130 E 7th St (bw)

Gingersnap's left this space just west of Avenue A back in January. The address for the LLC listed for the applicant matches up with the address for Ravi DeRossi's (Death & Co., Amor y Amargo, etc.) HQ. Looks like he's coming back to East Seventh Street after the Bourgeois Pig left the neighborhood. Stay tuned for more details on his latest project.

• Boxcar Lounge (Oops of New York Inc), 168 Ave B (op/corporate change)

• Dan and John's Wings (Dan and John's LLC), 135 1st Ave (bw)

Some beer for your wings.

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b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations

Coming soon: Work starts on Cienfuegos at long-dormant (and soon-to-be-expanded) 95 Avenue A

As you may recall, the CB3 enthusiastically approved a liquor license (a new application in a resolution area, no less) for Cienfuegos, a Cuban eatery that will open on the corner of Sixth Street and Avenue A. This prime chunk of EV real estate has sat empty since that place called Le Zoccole shuttered...

Anyway, work permits have been issued for the restaurant, which will be run by folks currently or formerly associated with Mercer Kitchen, Death & Co. and Bourgeois Pig...



And it appears as if the space behind the restaurant is also being utilized....



According to the work permits: "INCREASE NUMBER OF OCCUPANCY FOR RESTAURANT.OBTAIN NEW CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY."

By the way, CB3 also approved the sidewalk cafe for this spot...this promises to be a scene, and not necessarily in a good way...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The future of 95 Avenue A

Something finally coming to 95 Avenue A

Guest bartenders for Sidewalk starting tomorrow night

Via the EV Grieve in box...

Some of New York’s most well-known and innovative cocktail specialists are temporarily stepping away from their spices and strainers to serve up shots and drafts as guest bartenders at the East Village’s Sidewalk Cafe, at 94 Avenue A (at East 6th Street). Starting March 28, such master mixologists as Scott James Teague (veteran of Pegu Club); Michael Klein and Nick Brown (PDT); and Frank Cisneros (Dram, Bourgeois Pig, Cienfuegos) and Jane Danger, formerly of PDT; are taking a break from the stylish concoctions they create elsewhere to lend their hand serving more typical bar fare — beer, shots, and a handful of popular mixed drinks, at Sidewalk Cafe. Guest bartenders will be on hand at Sidewalk the second and fourth Wednesday of each month from 8 p.m. to midnight.