More about Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar, coming soon to East 6th Street

[Photo from Aug. 25 by Michael Hirsch]

Gandhi, the 31-year-old East Sixth Street mainstay, closed for good at the end of July.

As we pointed out on Aug. 5, Shane Covey, co-owner of Upstate around the corner, and Adam Elzer, operating partner at Sauce Restaurant, Supper, Lil Frankie's and Frank, are opening a new restaurant here on East Sixth Street just west of First Avenue.

Covey shared a few more details about his plans.

For starters, he's not closing or moving Upstate, the small seafood-centric restaurant with a rotating list of craft beer at 95 First Ave.

"I built that place with my Dad and my chef and I spend just about every waking moment in there and couldn't fathom moving it," Covey said via email. "I put Upstate in the East Village with the sole purpose of being a part of the community. It's a neighborhood place, and it's function is to be part of the community."

And why the new space?

"The problem is we turn so many area people away that it is driving me nuts." So he had been looking for someplace nearby to open what he describes as a neighborhood fish place.

And then the Gandhi space became available. He decided to team up with his friend Adam Elzer on the new venture.

"He asked what I was going to call it. I wasn't sure, so I paused. Adam said, 'let's name it after our fathers.' So Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar it is," Covey said.

He said that Edwin and Neal's will be "a mirror image of Upstate."

"I am just going to emphasize the raw bar aspect. At Upstate I have a full liquor license, but I don't serve booze. I like the craft beer aspect," he said. "So that is what we will be doing at the former Ghandi space. I want to source the freshest seafood and beer and make sure people can afford it. Makes no sense being a local joint if the locals can't afford it."

Familiar names looking to open new concept in the former Gandhi space

On Monday, we reported that Gandhi, an East Sixth Street mainstay, had closed for good.

Apparently the space won't be sitting vacant for too long.

Applicants seeking a new liquor license will appear before CB3's SLA committee this month.

According to public paperwork (PDF!) on file at the CB3 website, Shane Covey, co-owner of Upstate around the corner, and Adam Elzer, operating partner at Sauce Restaurant, Supper, Lil Frankie's and Frank, have designs on a new restaurant here just west of First Avenue.

There isn't any mention of the type of food that will be served here. Paperwork shows a configuration of 14 tables, good for 40 seats, and one bar with 8 seats. The proposed hours are 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday-Thursday; 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday-Sunday.

This month's CB3-SLA meeting is Aug. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Board 3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Rent hike dooms East 6th Street mainstay Gandhi

We saw that the gate was down this past weekend at East Sixth Street anchor Gandhi ...

The sign directs people to go to Haveli Banjara around the corner on Second Avenue...



Turns out that this is a permanent closure here at 345 E. Sixth St. just west of First Avenue. A staffer at Haveli confirmed to EVG reader Michael Hirsch that Gandhi has closed for good, that a rent increase pushed out the restaurant.

Gandhi, which opened in 1984, is the second longtime Indian restaurant to close this year on East Sixth Street because of a rent hike. The 42-year-old Mitali East was Cromanated back in March.

Both Gandhi and Mitali East directed their customers to Haveli, just like Banjara did in 2013.

Gandhi is apparently leaking gas on East Sixth Street

Gandhi, an old-timer (circa 1984) on East Sixth Street, is currently closed... Shawn Chittle noted the sign on the door say that they have "gas leaking."



This happens to coincide with a visit last week by the DOH ... whose inspectors dropped 57 violation points on them, including: "Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations," according to the DOH website.