East Village to get a taste of Upstate

Last evening, Goggla noticed the new restaurant on First Avenue called Upstate. And, in a really soft launch, the restaurant appeared to be open last night...

In recent years, the space was home to Permanent Brunch/Permanent Brunch & Burger/Steak Shoppe.

Earlier this month, The Observer noted that owner Shane Covey used to work at the 10-year-old Flatiron seafood restaurant Shaffer City, which closed last September. Upstate will serve oysters, meats, cheeses and craft beer.

East Village soon to be home to restaurants called The Beagle and Marry the Ketchup

I couldn't attend Monday night's CB3/SLA meeting. However, Eater's Jackie Goldstein was there ... here are a few highlights:

• Heartbreak Cafe on Second Avenue and Second Street gets the OK for a sidewalk cafe. This, though, after the Heartbreakers apparently agreed that they wouldn't seek a sidewalk license... Regardless, they were OK'd for eight tables and 32 seats on the Second Avenue side. This whole episode put a committee member in a snit.

• Momofuku Milk Bar gets the OK for a new location across the street from their current 13th Street digs. The booze will only be served in the desserts or something. And they'll have two beers on the menu. Rather, two different kinds of beer.

• Marry the Ketchup is approved at the old Permanent Brunch space on First Avenue. They'll seafood and oysters.

• I've heard the most about The Beagle, which is OK'd to take over the Orologio space at 162 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street. One resident told me their menu had entrees priced between $26-31. But, a Beagle rep said that was an old menu, and of the 31 items, 20 are $12 and under. Still, one resident told me how unhappy he is with menu items such as whole pigs and foie gras.

Read the full Eater post here.

Select Burger grounded; wither Hamburger Alley?

EV Grieve reader Joe sends along this photo... Select Burger on First Avenue near 14th Street has closed... The place was open for less than a year. Meanwhile, Permanent Brunch and Burger shuttered last year. Tallgrass Burger remains on this so-called Hamburger Alley.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Burger joint fad continues: Select Burger coming to First Avenue (aka Burger Alley)

On the CB3-SLA agenda: New eatery for the Permanent Brunch space; more tacos; and something called the Beagle

Well, here's a romantic way to spend Valentine's eve — at the February CB3-SLA meeting! Woo!

SLA & DCA Licensing Committee
Monday, February 14 at 6:30pm — JASA/Green Residence, 200 East 5th Street at the Bowery

Let's take a look at a few of the contenders! (Find the whole agenda here.)

Renewal with Complaint History

• Superdive (Rapture Café & Books LLC), 200 Ave A (op)

Heh ... Doubtful that they'll show up, based on previous comments from Team Dive ... I think this is their seventh or eighth or ninth time on the agenda...

Sick nine times? sound bite  Ferris Bueller's Day Off sound bites

Applications within Resolution Areas

• Taco Joint Inc, 119 St Marks Pl (wb)

Hey, another taco place. Just what we need here! This is at the location of Roni, the women's designer clothing boutique that closed in November.

• Pastabar Café Corp, 127 Ave C (up/op) (aka 343 E 8th St)

This is the Caffe Pepe Rosso/Cotto Caffe on Avenue C at Eighth Street...

Sidewalk Café Applications

• Ninth Ward (Church and Louis Inc), 180 2nd Ave

Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades

• Heartbreak Café (Christos Restaurant LLC), 29 E 2nd St (alt/wb/extend to proposed sidewalk café)

The new eatery on Second Avenue and Second Street hoping for a sidewalk cafe.

• Kuidouraku (141 Ebenezer & Song Inc), 141 1st Ave (trans/wb)

Home of Ramen Setagaya.

• The Beagle, 162 Ave A (trans/op) (Orologio)

Home of Orologio for now. The Beagle? Sounds really plaid to me. Or maybe retro...

New Liquor License Applications

• Momofuku Milk Bar (EV Milk LLC), 251 E 13th St (op)

The Momo clan is looking to annex the old salon across the street. Per Eater: "The folks at Momo Milk are considering taking up the space, for an expansion or to move the operation, but have yet to sign a lease or nail anything down."

• Marry The Ketchup Inc, 95 1st Ave (wb)

That's quite a name... this is space that counted Permanent Brunch as a tenant.



• 228 Rest Corp, 232 1st Ave (op)

This is the former David's Bagel's space near 14th Street. Word is a Mexican eatery is taking over.

• 56 Burger Fondue LLC, 56 3rd Ave (op)

Burger fondue? Hmm.. this is the former site of Lan, the Japanese restaurant between 10th Street and 11th Street.

Mail call at former Permanent Brunch

The mail is starting to stack up outside the now-shuttered Permanent Brunch/Permanent Brunch & Burger/Steak Shoppe on First Avenue ...



Anyone have Lesly Bernard's forwarding address?

My plan for Permanent Drunk is now in effect

Grub Street and Eater noted yesterday that the nearly year-long saga of 95 First Ave. -- Permanent Brunch, Permanent Brunch and Burger, and Steak Shop -- may have come to a close. The marshal seized the eatery.

And it was just about one year ago in which we were discussing Permanent Brunch's Bacon Bar and $6 doughnuts...

And given our bad bar name and concept theme of late... I ended that post last July like this (Uh, which I didn't remember...writing the ending to the post. I remember July. It was hot out, right?):

Perhaps after serving brunch for a few months, some new owners can come in with a big dumpster. They fill it with booze. Anyone is welcome to swim in the alcohol -- just as long as you have a reservation. The dumpster can fit up to 60 people. The name: Permanent Drunk.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will Permanent Brunch be serving booze?

East Village eatery odds-and-ends: Westville East's new sign; Bar None's Coyote Ugly tribute

EV Grieve reader Shawn Chittle, who lives above Westville East, passed along a new sign that appeared outside the eatery on Avenue A at 11th Street....



As he noted, "Kudos to Westville for putting up this sign Wednesday after listening to our building's tenants who spoke at Community Board 3. This will go a long way (I hope)." (Previously.)

EV Grieve reader Creature sent along this shot of Steak Shoppe, the new eatery at the old punchline Permanent Brunch and Burgers on First Avenue. The rebranded space opened up last night. Fork in the Road has the story.



Earlier today, I mentioned Bar None in a post that really had nothing to do with Bar None... which prompted a reader to ask me if I had ever seen the bar's website. Uh, no. I have not.



My! I can almost hear "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."

And for no reason, the sidewalk outside DBGB earlier this week....

Burger joint fad continues: Select Burger coming to First Avenue (aka Burger Alley)

Minutes after reading The Real Deal's piece on the number of burger joints on the rise in NYC... I spotted this new sign for a coming-soon burger joint on First Avenue near 14th Street...



Meanwhile, on the other side of the street, Tallgrass Burger is coming to the former Elvie's Turo-Turo... and, further south, who can forget Permanent Brunch & Burger?

A Hamburger Today asks a good question:

Is First Avenue in the East Village About to Become the New Hamburger Alley?

Boca Chica's motor failure nearly gives reader heart failure

In a rather frantic e-mail, a reader said that she passed Boca Chica on First Avenue and First Street last evening during dinner hour on the M15 and noticed that the gates were down and yellow signs were out front....she feared the worst...



However, upon closer inspection, it appears the closure on this EV mainstay the last 15 years or so was for one night only....



P.S.
Meanwhile, Permanent Brunch & Burgers, Bath and Beyond will reopen tomorrow...

Permanent Brunch branding: Introducing the Burger

Permanent Brunch on First Avenue is now known as Permanent Brunch & Burger, as Grub Street said it would be. Think they'll serve a bacon burger?

The bacon is back: Permanent Brunch reopens

I just can't type "Permanent Brunch" without shuddering... So how about Permanent Bacon?

Anyway! After PB's seizure last week, the eatery reopened on Saturday...



...at which time EV Grieve reader Creature snapped the following shot...



Still no sign of Burgers, though. Meanwhile, our plans for Permanent Press are on hold...

What to do with the Permanent Brunch space if the closure becomes Permanent?

Yesterday we noted that Permanent Brunch on First Avenue was still rather closed. So, speculating for just a moment, what if Permanent Brunch never comes back? What to do with the space? Can it return to the laundromat it once was. Nah, not in this neighborhood these days.

EV Grieve reader Goggla really nailed it yesterday with this suggestion:

How about Permanent Press? They could do laundry, serve paninis and print a neighborhood rag.

Permanent Brunch still not looking very permanent

EV Grieve reader Creature, proprietor of the State of the Day blog, sent along these photos taken this morning at the brunch hole on First Avenue near Sixth Street...




As Grub Street first reported, the tax man seizethed (sorry) the eatery on Tuesday. In a follow-up, PB reps told Grub Street that the place was supposed to reopen yesterday with a brand-new name — Permanent Brunch & Burger.

At least as of this morning, it didn't appear that any brunch or burgers would be served anytime soon....

You don't say?

Permanent Brunch is open for brunch.

Cafe DeVille's holiday appears rather permanent

In early August, the signs went up at Cafe DeVille on Third Avenue at 13th Street announcing its closure for a holiday through Aug. 30.



As of last night, the eatery had yet to reopen...



There's a transfer between Cafe DeVille and something called East County Louth Inc. (an Irish theme?) on Monday's SLA & DCA Licensing docket.

I never had reason to visit the Cafe DeVille Web site. But I looked last night.

Spoil yourself with one of our hand made cocktails, give in to a scrumptious Chocolate Volcano. Whether joining us for our decadent brunch, a luxurious dinner, our heavenly desserts, or lively happy hour, Cafe Deville's wait staff is warm and attentive and ready to treat you to a marvelous experience. The French doors open in good weather to spill tables out onto the sidewalk. The atmosphere is comfortable, pampered, sexy, fun and relaxed no matter if you sit outside, in the dining room, or at the bar. A seductive feast for the senses!

Uh-huh.

The reality there for so long,though...



In the spring of 2008, Cafe Deville was named one of the worst outdoor tables at Eater. (Photo via Eater.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Cafe DeVille closed for the rest of the month

Scaffolding finally comes down at Third Avenue and 13th Street

Now THIS is permanent brunch

At the one-and-only Odessa on Avenue A.


Previous posts on the actual Permanent Brunch on First Avenue.

WIll Permanent Brunch be serving booze?

Permanent Brunch, at 95 First Ave, near Sixth St., apparently finally opens tonight or Monday. The place was supposed to open last fall, but didn't. Since then, they've collected assorted stop work orders. (Looks like they may owe the city $5,000 too.)




Whatever. People buying a few of those $6 doughnuts will take care of that!

Meanwhile, in yesterday's post on PB's bacon bar, Goggla asked this: Do they have a liquor license? Good question! The writeup at UrbanDaddy, which specializes in getting the scoops on the douchiest places around, mentioned something about Bloody Marys. Though I didn't finish the article. (You try to finish it!) A doozy of a piece on PB in the Examiner mentions a "Champagne List."

I didn't see an active liquor license listed for PB on the SLA Web site. [Update: A commenter says PB purchased the license from the previous tenant.]

Perhaps after serving brunch for a few months, some new owners can come in with a big dumpster. They fill it with booze. Anyone is welcome to swim in the alcohol -- just as long as you have a reservation. The dumpster can fit up to 60 people. The name: Permanent Drunk.

Noted

Permanent Brunch, which opens to the public Monday on First Avenue near Sixth Street, features a bacon bar.

Brunch may have to wait

There's a stop work order, dated Friday, on the door of Permanent Brunch on First Avenue near Sixth Street. They were also hit with a stop work order back in September.