Friday, April 8, 2016

Proprietors offer more details about proposed Vietnamese restaurant for St. Mark's Place

A Vietnamese restaurant is in the works for the old Luca Bar space at 119 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue, as we first reported.

The three principals, who will appear before CB3's SLA committee on April 18 in hopes of securing a full liquor license, have posted letters on adjacent buildings.

The letters offer a few more details about what's in store for No. 119...



In part:

"Our restaurant will feature creative, classic and contemporary Vietnamese cuisine featuring dishes like a Green Papaya Salad with Prawns, Whole Bass grilled in a banana leaf, Lemongrass Pork Chops...

We will be applying for a liquor license so that we may complement our cuisine with Vietnamese-inspired cocktails containing unique Southeast Asian fruits and juices, and beverages that will otherwise pair well with food."

Their proposed hours are 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Wednesday; until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

According to the questionnaire (a 30-page PDF) on file at the CB3 website, two of the proprietors have worked for Stephen Starr's Starr Restaurants, whose NYC establishments include Upland, El Vez, The Clocktower, Morimoto and Buddakan.

Luca Bar closed in April 2015.

The CB3 SLA committee meeting is April 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Only bars are open after mid-night, this is a bar.

Anonymous said...

lol @ 11:53

Whatever!
I think it's a kind gesture to inform the neighbors of plans and give them names to take personal responsibility for the restaurant.
So what? another bar on st marks place... It's not like one bar is gonna transform that street into anything besides what it already is.

Anonymous said...

lol @ 11:53
It also made no difference when a second shooting gallery opened on my block in 1981, what's a few more junkies......

Anonymous said...

haha
fair enought.

though it is a restaurant replacing Luca Bar which wasn't a bar... so isn't that a step in a better direction?
or would you rather a teddy bear store open?

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't have blinked twice about this place, if they hadn't said a thing.
The letter makes them already sound guilty.

Let's fight this, people! Come on!!

Anonymous said...

Yes please Vietnamese! I generally eat dinner around 11pm so I have no problem with them being open past midnight. Let's do this.

Anonymous said...

In the EV, is there a difference between a bar and a restaurant with a full liquor license?Regardless, this will be a destination for the the bourgeois and bourgees transients. Ok, off to pair my bitterness with bitters.

Anonymous said...

@1:50 PM

yes I would prefer a teddy bear store at this point. I tired of every weekend looking and sounding like its spring break in Florida. Toys and children don't get drunk and scream outside my windows when the "restaurants" close at 2:00 am.

Anonymous said...

I can't decide if I love or hate the name "King Me Kong"

Anonymous said...

sarah, ben and eric, just what the neighborhood needs, your interpretation of a vietnamese restaurant, but not actually an authentic vietnamese restaurant run by say, vietnamese folks? don't want to assume by your names that you are indeed not vietnamese, just guessing here. and open until midnight week nights. go back to where you came from, we residents have had enough!

Anonymous said...

2:21 AM: Why does it matter if they are Vietnamese or not? Do you expect all your pizzerias to be run by Italians? I expect that the main courses will be in the $18 to $24 range, the new normal in the EV, but high-priced to me. By the way, Saigon Grill has tasty, reasonably priced Vietnamese food.