The curbside dining structure is coming down at Il Posto Accanto

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The curbside dining drama is coming to an end at Il Posto Accanto. 

The owners of the decades-old restaurant at 190 E. Second St. started removing the roadside structure yesterday. The remaining wood flooring will be recycled today or tomorrow.

As reported last week, husband-and-wife owners Julio Pena and Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta had resisted removing the setup by the city's mandated date of Nov. 29. Diners were still using the heated event tent with side walls and a weatherproof vinyl top. Pena told us that losing the 20-plus-seat space would impact their business, forcing them to lay off staffers during the holidays. 

"We do not want to cut the hours of our staff or lay off staff. Give us until after the holidays," Pena told us last week. 

The DOT, which oversees the city's new permanent Dining Out NYC program, served Il Posto Accanto with a 30-day notice to remove the streetery over the weekend. 

However, ownership chose to go ahead and remove the outdoor dining spot here between Avenue A and Avenue B.

"We will not change who we are, how we interact with the neighborhood we love," Pena said. "We heard the community, we respect the community, and it's coming down. That's it."

Under the city's new guidelines, year-round roadway dining structures will no longer be permitted. The revised regulations stipulate that roadway cafes must now be open-air, easily portable, and simple to assemble and dismantle. Additionally, these establishments are restricted to operating only from April through November. Sidewalk cafes are permitted year-round.

Why this East Village restaurant is refusing to remove its curbside dining structure

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Updated 12/10: The restaurant is removing its curbside dining space.

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Despite the city mandate to remove all curbside dining structures by this past Friday as part of the permanent Dining Out NYC program, the owners of Il Posto Accanto are standing defiant and keeping their structures intact at 190 E. Second St. 

"We're doing civil disobedience," said Julio Pena, who has owned the well-liked restaurant with his wife Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta since the 1990s between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Pena said that not having the outdoor dining space — a heated event tent with side walls and a weatherproof vinyl top — would impact their business, forcing them to lay off staffers.

"There are places like ours that use the outdoors year-round, that are heated and comfortable," he said of his space that can accommodate 20-plus diners. "We do not want to cut the hours of our staff or lay off staff. Give us until after the holidays." 

He continued, "Why do I want to do this to my staff? We're still using it even in the cold weather. People were eating here [Tuesday] night — even in the cold. Sometimes, we even have to turn the heaters down."

Pena says neighbors have called 311 to report him. On Tuesday, the police stopped by the restaurant based on one of the complaints. He said he understands that the DOT, which oversees the outdoor dining program, will visit next, but they need to give a 30-day notice before removing the structure. And that he may face a fine — of $500 on the first offense and $1,000 for each violation until the structures are removed. 

Pena quickly noted that he has had no problems with the NYPD or the DOT and that he respects them and knows they have a job to do. 

Still, Pena said that if the DOT comes to tear down his outdoor dining structure, he will "call a full-court press." 

"I will fight that fine. I plan to fight until the very end. If I have to go before a tribunal judge, I will," he said. "Not just for me but for our staff."

As previously noted, the significant change with the new guidelines is that enclosed, year-round roadway dining structures will no longer be permitted. The revised regulations stipulate that roadway cafes must now be open-air, easily portable, and simple to assemble and dismantle. 

Additionally, these establishments are restricted to operating only from April through November. Sidewalk cafes are permitted year-round.

Back on the street with Mscady1965

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The most recognizable car in the East Village is back on the streets.

The 1965 Cadillac Eldorado convertible can usually be spotted around Il Posto Accanto, the rustic, 28-year-old Italian restaurant at 190 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

It belongs to husband-wife owners Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta and Julio Pena. (Julio bought the Caddy in 1992, around the time the two met and fell in love.)

The car was in the shop for a new paint job and some work on a sticky window earlier this summer.

The other day, Bea and Julio met me for a quick ride around the neighborhood. The show-stopping vehicle always draws a happy response from passersby (and without the aid of any Phil Collins!). 

Julio has set up an Instagram account for the car — @mscady1965 along with a hashtag, #mscady.

You can also contact him to rent the car for photoshoots. 

Thursday's parting shot

A Christmas scene at Gutter Beach tonight on Second Street outside Il Posto Accanto ... (Pic via @ilpostoaccanto) ...

Reopenings: Il Posto Accanto

[Photo today by Stacie Joy]

Il Posto Accanto reopens today at noon for takeout and delivery over at 190 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Owners Bea and Julio (officially Beatrice Tosti Di Valminuta Pena and Julio Pena) made the announcement on Instagram. (And they seem quite excited to be back open.) You can find updates and daily specials on their Instagram.

The closed back on March 25.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Checking in at Il Posto Accanto

Preparing for Saturday's dinner at Il Posto Accanto on 2nd Street

[Updated] Checking in at Il Posto Accanto

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Updated: Bea and Julio decided to close after service last night for the duration of the outbreak.

When I arrive to pick up a to-go lunch order at Il Posto Accanto, 190 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, I am ready to ask owners Bea and Julio (officially Beatrice Tosti Di Valminuta Pena and Julio Pena, or President Petunia and Babycakes as they call one another) how they maintain such optimism in the face of this pandemic.



However, taking one look at their faces, I can see it’s not the right question. Bea tells me they thought they’d have been busier, that they are not receiving many orders at all. Julio tells me he plans to keep the restaurant open at least until Sunday, but he doesn’t know for how long after that.



They both plan to go day by day and hope if they have to shutter that it will be temporary. They worry about their staff, and their comfort level and fears — most have families to support, and admit that they haven’t been paying themselves, that all money is going to their workers. No one is sure how rent will be paid.





After The New Yorker released a story on the restaurant Tuesday, longtime customers have been calling to brainstorm ideas for keeping the place open.

One customer plans on ordering food for 20 of his friends and having everything delivered so they can host an online shelter-in-place virtual Il Posto supper, complete with wine. Another customer encourages delivery via DoorDash, and pushed the restaurant to open an account.

Julio talks about the difficulties he’s faced with delivery services and the fees they want to charge. Right now, the restaurant uses DoorDash and Try Caviar, but if you are local and want a delivery you can call them directly and, as Bea says, “a valiant gentleman will deliver your food to you on bike if you are on the East Side approximately 10 blocks north or south of the restaurant.”

Julio says if you want an order for pickup, you can phone it in and he’ll make sure you get it in whatever way is most comfortable for you. He can leave it outside the door for no-touch pick up, or have it just inside the door waiting. He can run your credit card if you prefer not to pay cash.

Bea’s been making homemade hand sanitizer from 190-proof Everclear and spraying it on everything (except the food), even packages arriving from UPS and FedEx. She also sprays my hands, carefully avoiding my camera lens, and offers some to the DoorDash courier who arrives to pick up the veal saltimbocca with prosciutto sage white wine sauce and crab coquettes with pea shoots and spicy aioli order.



She even absently sprays some on her phone as she chats with her childhood friend, still in Rome, trapped in her home since the quarantine started there. Listening to them talk it feels like a preview of what we can expect here.



“I’m very happy Americans have discovered cooking at home, even if this is what it takes,” Bea tells me as she packs up my sciue spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil to go.

You can keep up with the restaurant on Instagram for updates and daily specials, and view our 2018 story on the East Village mainstay here.

Preparing for Saturday's dinner at Il Posto Accanto on 2nd Street

On one recent Saturday, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by Il Posto Accanto, the rustic, 23-year-old Italian restaurant at 190 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, to watch husband-wife owners Julio Pena and Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta prepare for that evening's dinner.

Words and photos by Stacie Joy

Saturday morning prep with Bea and Julio is a chaotic and boisterous affair, with lots of good-natured teasing, yelling, gesticulating and discussion about food and family, the pressures of running a small, family-owned business in the neighborhood, and local gossip and news.



Bea selects and picks up her vegetables, fruits and meats from the Union Square Greenmarket and comes back to the basement kitchen at Il Posto Accanto to start finalizing the day’s meals.



Meanwhile, Julio shops for flowers and today, smoke tree branches, in order to decorate the restaurant space upstairs, all of which he transports in his bright yellow old-school Caddy, a familiar presence on the block.





The ’65 Eldorado convertible (originally painted champagne gold) was purchased right after Julio and Bea met and fell in love in 1992.

Downstairs, Bea is making spicy pork belly ragu, pesto, tomato sauce, vegan lentil soup, and yellow heirloom tomato salad with burrata and prosciutto, among other things. There are a couple of whole octopus bubbling away on the stove with a wine cork to keep them tender, some onions caramelizing in a pan, and individual servings of blanched spinach are being rolled into balls.





Bea is constantly in motion, tasting, adjusting, issuing kitchen orders and making videos on her ipad to post to social media. The kitchen staff (including Geovanny, Armando and Gonzalez) all seem to speak or at least understand Italian, which is a plus as that is the default language spoken.


[Gonzalez]


[Armando]


[Geovanny]

As Saturday progresses, decisions are made upstairs. The day’s drink has been created: a concord grape juice and prosecco cocktail.



The TV near the bar is now Chromecasting a soccer match while most deliveries, including breads, have arrived.





Finally, Bea and Julio sit down to map out their evening plans. The moment of quiet is short-lived, as Julio has to run to the bank and Bea starts offering (well, insisting on) tastings off her plate to some locals who dropped by: some egg omelet strips cooked in tomato sauce, and sautéed garlic and spinach.



You can follow along with Julio and Bea and the team on Instagram.

RIP Mikey Evans

Mikey Evans, who spent his whole life as a resident of 190-192 E. Second St., died on Wednesday night.

I don't have a lot of background information at the moment. Evans had been in declining health in recent months.

Julio Pena and Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta, the husband-wife owners of Il Posto Accanto at 190 Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B since 1995, shared the news in a series of Instagram posts yesterday:

With heavy hearts we are wishing our good friend & brother Michael Evans a loving farewell. The Lifeguard of 2nd Street will now be our Guardian Angel ... Those of us that had the pleasure of watching Mikey from sunup to sundown will forever remember his beautiful energy as he entertained and elevated our small community.

Those of us at Il Posto Accanto and Il Bagatto don't know a 2nd Street without Mikey because Mikey was here first.

He was one of a kind, and lived and died on his own terms. We would like to celebrate his life with everybody.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Get well soon, Mikey

Get well soon, Mikey

[Photo via Instagram]

If you've been on Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, then you've likely seen Mikey Evans. He was born and raised on the block, and has lived his whole life at 190-192 E. Second St.

He hasn't been feeling well of late, and Julio Pena and Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta, the husband-wife owners of Il Posto Accanto at No. 190, are collecting get-well wishes for their longtime friend.

Here's what they had to say via Instagram yesterday:

Mikey has been a little under the weather. A lot of you, near and far, noticing his absence have been asking for news. We do not have much in terms of updates, but if you want to drop off a get-well card at Il Posto, we will make sure he gets it. Love and well wishes are always a good idea.

Beatrice later told me that Mikey is "the all-around greeter of Second Street — the sunshine of the block with his smile." When Julio and Beatrice opened Il Bagato in 1995, people thought that Mikey was the owner. "And we liked that."