Momofuku-French Louie vets opening BARA on East 1st Street

A new restaurant is in the works for the former Prima space at 58 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.



Here are details via the BARA Twitter account:

BARA is a new French/Japanese tavern being opened in December by chef Ian Alvarez with cocktails and drinks from Kyle Storm.

And here is a draft copy of their menu via Instagram:



Alvarez, a former sous chef at Momofuku, most recently worked with Storm at French Louie in Brooklyn.

Prima closed in August after nearly three years on the block. In a refreshingly honest assessment, Prima owners said that they closed because they just weren't busy enough.

Prima closes, and offers 1 of the most refreshingly honest reasons why

Prima, the well-regard restaurant at 58 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, has closed.

The sign on the door is as straightforward as it gets.



"We just weren't busy enough …"

Prima opened in November 2011 (in the space that housed The Elephant for 17 years).

Prima, from the owners of Summit Bar on Avenue C, was originally open mornings starting at 8 for coffee (via 9th Street Espresso) and a light breakfast … and small meals throughout the day.

But that never caught on. The Times stopped by in April 2012 and had nice things to say. "Order the arctic char ($18) ... and you’ll receive a generous serving of fish cooked so that the skin is as crispy as crackling, the flesh flaky and succulent. It’s flawless, a master class in fish."

We knew several people who liked Prima because it was always pretty low-key. But apparently word-of-mouth was at a minimum.

Per New York magazine: "Prima is the kind of neighborhood gem you hope nobody hears about, so you can keep it your little secret."

Prima time on East First Street

Diner's Journal reported Monday that Prima opens on East First Street today. It's a confab featuring the owners of Summit Bar and Ninth Street Espresso with an assist from Motorino’s Mathieu Palombino.

And so they will serve coffee and light breakfast starting at 8, and small meals throughout the day. And booze starting at 5 p.m. According to The Feed, Prima will have "a seafood-focused menu that recalls Palombino’s days as chef de cuisine at BLT Fish."

This space was previously home to The Elephant, the Thai restaurant-lounge, for 17 years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Elephant: "We truly think we are good neighbors"

Rejected headlines for this post include: Prima scream, Prima fear and Prima suspect.

Prima Strada's three meals a day

Here's a bit of a progress report on Prima Strada, the new Italian restaurant coming to the former Elephant space on East First Street... Signs are up indicating the team behind Summit Bar on Avenue C will be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, as The Feast reported back in December.

The Elephant closed in December. (You can read its history here, including an interview with the manager.)

Fork in the Road posted an in-progress video teaser of the space a few weeks back.