Reader report: b4 coming to East Fourth Street

A quick note about the new restaurant taking over the space last held by Piccola Positano at 235 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B... EVG reader Alexis Weiss hears from the folks there that the space will be called b4 (for Fourth Street and Avenue B) ... classic American fare with a brunch service... they're looking at a possible lunch service too... with an early summer opening date...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Piccola Positano has apparently closed on East Fourth Street

[Photos by Alexis Weiss]

Piccola Positano has apparently closed on East Fourth Street

The gate has been down at the Italian restaurant here just west of Avenue B the past week to 10 days. Prior to that, a neighbor told us that the eatery was only making pizza deliveries — no meals in the dining room.

We haven't 100 percent confirmed the closure just yet... there are no signs about "closed for renovations" or "on spring break" anywhere. The restaurant remained closed during the weekend as well.

Piccola Positano opened in late 2011/early 2012... the previous tenant, Tonda, seemed to have similar problems. It would be closed for weeks then randomly reopen for one weekend.

E.U., the first "gastropub" in the East Village, had the space before Tonda. And that was drama city. E.U. battled the SLA for 18 months before finally getting approved for a beer and wine license. (Read more E.U. drama here at Eater.)

A jinxed location?

Piccola Positano will apparently really be into clams and mussels

On Monday, we had an item on the future of the former E.U./Tonda space on East Fourth Street near Avenue B... it will be an Italian restaurant called Piccola Positano...

Yesterday, Thrillist had more details... including that there is a January opening date... Anyway, per Thrillist from a post titled "An Italian vacation in the East Village":

Eschewing the extraneous ingredients that apparently confuse visiting Italians, the food hews to simplicity and was seriously researched (the pasta alla vongole was tested with clams from all over the world before lighting upon the perfect cockles), and includes traditional calamari fritti, mixed shellfish soup, and four different preparations (incl. sauteed w/ scallions, fennel, orange, black pepper, and olive oil) of "cultivated mussels", which refuse to be stuck with weak bivalves.

Coming to the former Tonda space: Piccola Positano

The new sign is up at the former Tonda/E.U. space on East Fourth Street near Avenue B...

They already have a profile on Open Table. Luigi Celentano is listed as the executive chef...

Celentano is the executive chef at Gigino Trattoria, which opened in Tribeca in 1994. Bob Giraldi and Phil Suarez own Gigino Trattoria.

Giraldi was also behind Tonda and, before that here, E.U., the first "gastropub" in the East Village. And that was drama city. E.U. battled the SLA for 18 months before finally getting approved for a beer and wine license. (Read more E.U. drama here at Eater.)

Anyway, this is all much different than what reps taking over the space pitched to the CB3/SLA back in April. (Read more on this here.)

Here are the minutes from that meeting, with the information about what was coming in here:

• 4AB LLC, 235 E 4th St (trans/op) (Tonda) VOTE: Understanding that 4AB LLC, with the proposed business name of Fleurie, has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the East 4th Street Avenues A to B Block Association, regarding its use of 235 East 4th Street, to deny the transfer of a full on‐premise liquor license to 4AB LLC, with a proposed business name of Fleurie, for the existing business Tonda, located at 235 East 4th Street, unless the applicant agrees before the SLA to make as conditions of its license the following signed notarized stipulation that 1) it will operate as a full‐service restaurant, serving food to within one (1) hour of closing, 2) its hours of operation will be from 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 A.M. weekdays and 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. weekends, with the exception that a street facing window will be open from 8:00 A.M. daily from which coffee and pastries will be served for take out, 3) it will install additional soundproofing as needed, 4) it will close any doors and windows by 10:00 P.M. weekdays and 11:00 P.M. weekends, 5) it will not have DJs or live music, 6) it will designate an employee or employees whose responsibilities will include monitoring the sidewalk to discourage patrons from loitering on the sidewalk and will provide a waiting area within the establishment to prevent patrons from waiting outside.

Not sure what all happened to these plans. At least from the Open Table description, we'll have Italian here... and it enters an already-crowded Italian restaurant market right here with Perbacco across the street ... Max around the corner on B ... Il Bagatto and Supper on Second Street ... to name a few...

EV Grieve reader Alexis Weiss took a look inside the other day... here's how it was shaping up so far...

More on the former Tonda space: breakfast and a celebrity pedigree

We've been curious about what's coming to the former Tonda space on East Fourth Street. Our previous queries were met with a "we're still in development ... no comment" from one of the principals.

The entity, currently known as 4AB, goes before the CB3/SLA committee on Monday. Turns out CB3 posted the questionnaire from the 4AB folks on the CB3 website.

Not a whole lot more details... However! Some interesting nuggets of info... Like, the plans call for one bar with 12 seats... And the hours of operation:

Monday-Thursday, Sunday: 7 a.m. — 2 a.m.
Friday and Saturday: 7 a.m. – 3 a.m.

What else... No TVs (or hookah pipes!) ... No DJ or bands... just "small, background speakers."

And at least one of the names of the applicants seems familiar...

Perhaps this is the same Byron Bates who worked as the GM of the one-time Chelsea hotspot Bette, the place owned by Amy Sacco that brought out the bold-faced names (Scarlett Johansson! George Clooney! Uma!). The place closed in June 2008.

Here's a piece on Bette from Diner's Journal.

And if this isn't the same Mr. Bates... well, see you Monday!

Curious about the future of the Tonda space

The CB3/SLA agenda for Monday is packed with interesting items... Such as! The entity called 4AB that is aiming to take over the Tonda space on East Fourth Street near Avenue B.

First, it finally looks as if Tonda is gone. (Though watch it be randomly open this weekend...)

E.U., the first "gastropub" in the East Village, had the space before Tonda. And that was drama city. E.U. battled the SLA for 18 months before finally getting approved for a beer and wine license. (Read more E.U. drama here at Eater.)

Given the recent history of this place, we thought we'd check in with the representative whose name graces the CB3/SLA flyer on the front of Tonda.

So we asked Warner M. Lewis of Halstead Property via email if he could provide some details on what's coming here. Neighbors are curious!

"We are still in development and have no comment at this time."

Guess we'll have to wait until Monday night's meeting then.

Tonda randomly open this past weekend

Tonda on East Fourth Street near Avenue B has been closed the past two weekends... We've asked people associated with the pizza place for comment, though have never received a response... seems a given that the place has closed.

Or not!

This past weekend, Tonda was randomly opened with an all-night happy hour, per their sandwich board. However, I didn't see anyone inside on Friday or Saturday night... and some of the gates were down — not very inviting...

This is all perplexing... I feel badly for anyone who still works here... and why not just be honest with the neighborhood?

This weekend in Tonda not being open

Friday night. (The gate was up. Looked as if a maintenance worker was checking something in the back.)

Saturday night.

Sign on the door still says open Wednesday through Saturday nights. Previously.

Tonda was closed this past weekend

We've been keeping an eye on Tonda, the pizzeria at 235 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B. The place was closed Friday and Saturday night.

During the previous weekend, Tonda was closed on Friday but open on Saturday. No sign on the front door... or nothing on their website about being closed. We tried their phone number, and got a message saying there was no room to leave a message. And their Twitter feed hasn't been updated since Aug. 11.

Tonda was open last night

Yesterday, we noted that Tonda, the pizzeria at 235 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B, had been closed this week. However, we walked by last night around 8:30ish and the place was open...

Tonda has been closed of late

Tonda, the pizzeria at 235 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B, has been closed the last few evenings... You can see them maybe closing on a winter Monday or Tuesday... but a Wednesday and Thursday night too?

I sent Tonda an e-mail, though no one responded. The phone number still works. An outgoing message provides their hours, dinner Sunday through Thursday 5:30 to 11 pm, till midnight on Friday, with brunch on Saturdays and Sundays... The pizzeria, housed in the former EU space, opened in the spring of 2009... As Eater noted last month, Tonda has been on the block ...Per Eater: They're asking for $250,000 key money and a $10,750 a month lease.

Ta-da: It's Tonda

Signage appears at the recently shuttered E.U. on East Fourth Street near Avenue B.



As Eater noted, Tonda will be an Italian trattoria and pizza place...and work appears to be going on behind the papered windows...