August Laura and all the new bars and restaurants coming to this stretch of 6th Street

[Photo yesterday by Vinny & O]

As mentioned last week, the bar-cafe August Laura is expected to open today (Oct. 9) soon on Avenue A at Sixth Street in the former Sidewalk space. [Update: they opened on Oct. 10]

Meanwhile, three other bar-restaurants are in various states of opening preparations on this north side of the block between Avenue A and Avenue B...



• 503 E. Sixth St.



A venture called Down and Out is in the works for this space. The applicants, Knitting Factory alum who are behind The Well out in Bushwick, will appear before CB3's SLA committee tomorrow (Thursday) night.

The questionnaire on file at the CB3 website shows a configuration with 10 tables for 39 diners (the menu is said to serve the "freshest seafood") and a 12-stool bar. The proposed hours are 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday, with a 4 a.m. close Thursday through Sunday.

No. 503 was previously Cholo Noir, the Chicano-inspired bar-restaurant that closed in August 2018 after 13 months.

• 507 E. Sixth St.



Coming soon: Nowon, the first restaurant from chef Jae Lee, who has been running the well-regarded kitchen at Black Emperor on Second Avenue. He was previously the executive chef of Rice & Gold at Hotel 50 Bowery.

Lee recently shared the Nowon logo on Instagram...

View this post on Instagram

Here’s the moment you have all been waiting for. Here’s the name of my first restaurant. Nowon is the name of my hometown in Korea, where I was born and raised. But I also named it nowon because I am no one without my Korean American culture and your support. It’s an all inclusive restaurant where my individuality is not the priority. It’s about us! Let’s get it you savages! Logo design by @overice.nyc

A post shared by JAE LEE ✪ (@jae.s.lee) on Sep 26, 2019 at 4:51pm PDT

No. 507 was last Carma East, the dim sum bar that closed in early 2019.

• 509 E. Sixth St.



As previously noted, the Pineapple Club will be bringing American Polynesian cuisine to the former Out East space here between Avenue A and Avenue B.

There's a teaser site up now for the two-level bar-restaurant.

Out East went dark in December 2017 after eight months serving a seafood-centric menu from the proprietors behind places like Beauty & Essex and Stanton Social.

Meanwhile, back along the Sixth Street of August Laura, there are two new murals... one titled "Dreamy" via @EarlyRiser...



... and another by @art_by_eyebrows...



This space is now going as A6 Art Wall — "dedicated to showcasing established and emerging public artists." Work here will change on a quarterly basis. You can find the A6 Instagram account here.

On tonight's CB3-SLA agenda, applicants for 185 Avenue C, 507 E. 6th St.

[185 Avenue C]

Here are a few of the items on tonight's CB3-SLA agenda...

New Liquor License Applications

• Rumba NYC Bar & Grill Corp, 185 Avenue C between 11th Street and 12th Street

A bar-restaurant with a Latin-influenced menu called Rumba NYC Bar & Grill is in the works for this space. The proposed hours are 2 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday; with a 2 a.m. close on Friday and Saturday.

The applicants also run Salome Latin Cuisine on Westchester Avenue in the Bronx, per the questionnaire on the CB3 website.

There has been a lot of turnover in recent years at this address. The last tenant, Bar Taco, which closed earlier this year, arrived in early 2018, taking over the space from a short-lived venture called Malcriada, a self-described "Latino Gastropub" ... which arrived after Kaz, another short-lived venture that lasted seven months.

Cafecito, the Cuban-style cafe, had a good run here, closing in early 2016 after 14 years in business.


[505 E. 6th St.]

Items not heard at Committee

• Entity to be formed by Jae Lee, 507 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. (wine-beer only)

A Korean-American restaurant called Nowon will open in this space.

The applicant, Jae Lee, has been running the well-regarded kitchen at Black Emperor on Second Avenue. He was previously the executive chef of Rice & Gold at Hotel 50 Bowery.

NowOn's hours are listed at 5 p.m. to midnight during the week, with a noon opening on Saturday and Sunday. Find the full questionnaire here.

No. 507 was last Carma East, the dim sum bar that closed in early 2019.

Tonight's CB3-SLA committee meeting starts at 6:30 at the Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Pub in the works for longtime corner bar space on Houston and Suffolk

[Updated] Bad Carma? 6th Street dim sum spot hasn't been open lately

Updated: We understand that Carma East will reopen Jan. 14 after a kitchen upgrade. Updated 2: Carma reopened the week of Jan. 28.

The gates have been down of late at Carma East, the dim sum bar at 507 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. The closure during the holiday stretched into this past weekend.

There isn't any notice about a temporary closing on the restaurant's website or social media properties, though their phone is out of service and Yelp lists them as closed.

An EVG reader who lives nearby shared this photo from early December, when Carma East added six flat-screen TVs (tuned to sporting events) and a random assortment of NFL pennants ...



Per the reader: "Seems like a bit of an odd mix with soup dumplings." (The Carma East Instagram account does say "Tapas to Get Drunk With.")

This sibling of Carma Asian Tapas in the West Village opened on Sixth Street in September 2016.

And this has been a tough stretch of Sixth Street for restaurants. If this closure is permanent, then that makes three restaurants out of four storefronts to shut down in the past year... the others are Cholo Noir (a new applicant is looking to lease this spot) and Out East (new ownership was expected in this space too).

Carma East opens today on 6th Street

On Monday, we noted that Carma East was coming soon to 507 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Well, how soon is now — the dim sum bar opens today, per the sidewalk sign.

This is an EV outpost of Carma Asian Tapas, which specializes in dim sum, on Carmine Street in the West Village.

No announced hours (the West Village outpost is open for lunch and dinner) ... and we haven't seen a menu for this location just yet. Will update when this info becomes available.

Carma East will eventually have a new East neighbor — Out East at No. 509.

The previous restaurant here, Kin Asian Bistro, which took over from Purple Ginger, had been open for less than a year.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Purple Ginger out, Kin Asian Bistro is in on East 6th Street

Kin Asian Bistro is now Carma East on 6th Street

The signage for Carma East went up on Friday here at 507 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... A neighbor says that this will be an EV outpost of Carma Asian Tapas on Carmine Street in the West Village.

Per the Carma website:

Two Chinese friends, one with a degree in Modern Philosophy and one in Medicine, now longtime New Yorkers, had a dream of two cultures merged into one. The result is CARMA: Eastern cuisine with Western flare. CARMA is a Modern Asian Tapas Wine Bar in the West Village, celebrating a contemporary approach to traditional Asian recipes. With a signature menu created by the Executive Chef of Taiwan’s renowned DinTai Fung, we feature healthy, balanced, and locally sourced ingredients.

CARMA provides a destination dining experience that not only stimulates your palate but visually engages you in an exhibition of works from a diverse group of artists, from the Hudson revivalists to Beijing’s 798.

The previous establishment here, Kin Asian Bistro, which took over from Purple Ginger, had been open for less than a year.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Purple Ginger out, Kin Asian Bistro is in on East 6th Street