Openings: Seasoned Vegan Real Quick on 2nd Avenue

Seasoned Vegan Real Quick opens today at 128 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. (First mentioned here.) 

The spot is a new vegan concept from mother and son restaurateurs Brenda "Chef B" Beener and Aaron Beener, who closed their Harlem restaurant Seasoned Vegan this spring after nine years in service.

According to a restaurant rep, they decided to relaunch as quick service takeout and delivery with a few of their most popular dishes offered as sandwiches.

Per the rep: 

The offerings draw on the family's New Orleans roots and feature three sandwiches, including two made with their unique signature grilled burdock root "crawfish" — Craw Pretzel Boy with remoulade sauce, a vegan take on the crawfish po-boy on a pretzel bun, and BBQ Craw Sandwich in bayou BBQ sauce. 

SV Nugget Sandwich and Lemon Crusted Nuggets (soy protein) will be available as well, along with fries tossed with Cajun seasoning and housemade organic desserts: Raw Cheesecake made from cashews, walnuts and dates; Salted Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies and cupcakes. Beverages include fair trade Maine Root organic sodas. 

You can find the menu and more info here. Hours are daily from 11 a.m. to midnight. You can follow them on Instagram here. 

Photo courtesy of  Seasoned Vegan Real Quick

Updated: 

Several readers noted that the previous business signage for Tony's Pizza remains up temporarily ... with an important addition — the NOT ... (thanks to Steven for the photo!)

A visit to Gem Spa

Photos and interview by Stacie Joy

Updated: Since this post, Zoltar has been removed from the shop's front. Gem Spa has also reduced hours and discontinued newspaper sales.

Parul Patel is running a few minutes late for our appointment and she calls to say she’s on her way. So I use the time to take in Gem Spa, the iconic corner shop and newsstand at 131 Second Ave. and St. Mark’s Place that has a long history in the neighborhood — and not just for its signature egg creams. (Look at the Gem Spa Wikipedia entry for its sprawling legend.)

Patel, whose 76-year-old father Ray owns the shop, soon arrives, issuing a flurry of instructions to employees as she sets up the house special chocolate egg cream (seen below with pretzel stick and chocolate-covered jelly ring).









As her father’s in declining health, Parul has been handling the store’s management. The Patel family has owned the store since 1986.

Parul says the egg cream has been made for almost 100 years at this address. While chocolate is the current best-selling flavor, she also offers vanilla, strawberry, orange creamsicle, and black-and-white.

She plans to debut some new flavors soon – and scoop! – I saw the creation of the first-ever cookies and cream version.







Future flavors also include mocha and hazelnut or Nutella flavor. Upcoming offerings may include ice cream and milkshakes, and new flavors of e-cigs, as well as adding jewelry and handbags to the hats and accessories already being sold outside the shop.



Last month, Gem Spa lost its license to sell lottery and tobacco products (with the exception of e-cigs) due to an employee twice selling cigarettes to an undercover underage buyer. The state has suspended the store’s license for six months and also leaves them unable to apply for a license to sell beer.

Neighborhood icon (and EVG favorite!) Zoltar arrived in 2011, when the machine’s owner offered to license it to Gem Spa. (They keep 50% of the profits.) Zoltar seems to be busiest at night although he gets to pose with tourists often during the day.





The store recently joined Instagram — you can follow it here.

Gem Spa has also been enjoying some media exposure of late, including a deep dive on the shop's history at Gothamist... and a visit by NY1's affable Roger Clark.











“Gem Spa serves and loves its locals, tourists, and eccentrics,” Parul tells me, before sending me on my way with a chocolate-covered jelly-topped graham cracker and a smile.





Visit our previous A Visit To features here.

More about 29B, a new teahouse at 29 Avenue B

A post shared by 29b /Tag#29bteahouse (@29bteahouse) on Oct 24, 2017 at 9:51pm PDT

29B opened in late October at 29 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street.

Grub Street had a feature on the cafe-restaurant-retail space yesterday.

Some excerpts:

29B has an impressively diverse menu spanning categories of tea rarely seen in New York. There are Korean green teas, less bitter than Japanese styles with deceptively nuanced sweetness; a range of single-estate Darjeelings that offer opportunity for comparative tastings; and almost a dozen caffeine-free tisanes that involve infusions of mistletoe, mulberry leaf, and orchidlike white lotus.

Co-owner Stefen Ramirez has been running Tea Dealers, a tea importing business, as an online venture as well as a pop-up shop in Williamsburg. Tea Dealers is also located in this space.

Says Ramirez:

“You need something social besides a bar or club with loud music. Here you can drink whatever you want, with or without caffeine or alcohol, and an air of sobriety. But it’s not a library. We want an energy that’s refreshing and fun.”

29B is open Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday noon to 6 p.m. Find their website here.

The storefront was previously home for seven years to Sigmund Pretzel Shop, which closed last fall.

29B opening soon on Avenue B

29B, a cafe-retail combo space, is shaping up on Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street.

Here's more about the owners and mission via their website:

Stefen Ramirez and Shin Won Yoon created Tea Dealers with the aim to introduce the highest quality pure, non-blended teas to America. Our tea catalog is a distinctive selection of exceptional teas that focus on cultivation, the artistry of the producer, and the cultural heritage of each origin.

We import teas from India, Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan and source them directly from the farmers. All of the selections use traditional agriculture methods that do not use pesticides and only natural fertilizers when needed.

In June 2015, they opened a retail outlet in Williamsburg ... followed by a summertime pop-up shop on Canal Street this year.

Aside from serving tea and a food menu, the Avenue B location will sell tea pots, cups, flower vases, etc., and offer tea-related workshops and tastings.

The storefront in the middle of Brunch Row was previously home for seven years to Sigmund Pretzel Shop, which closed last fall.

Week in Grieview

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

At Ray's 84th birthday celebration at Ray's Candy Store (Tuesday)

Astor Plate coming to Astor Place (Friday)

Chester Kawalec, longtime grill man at the Stage, has died (Thursday)

Pourt softly opens on Cooper Square (Monday)

Office space on St. Mark's Place back on the market and still ghost free (Friday)

Last look at the old Lanza's (Thursday)

An Obama tribute on Bond (Thursday)

Developers pitching the city for 4 more floors at former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office (Monday)

A winterized Bowery Market, now down to 3 vendors (Tuesday)

Checking in on 'Urbanmythology' on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall (Thursday)

Sushi and pizza coming soon to the Bowery (Wednesday)

MTA announces public workshops to discuss the upcoming (2019!) L train shutdown (Wednesday)

Malcriada, a Latin gastropub, opens on Super Bowl Sunday (Wednesday)

114 E. 7th St. sells for $13.8 million (Wednesday)

No Malice Palace remains closed for now after the death of its owner (Monday)

I love you to gigabits: Pop the question, see your names on a LinkNYC kiosk (Tuesday)

Construction watch: 127 Avenue D (Tuesday)

For rent signage arrives at the former Sigmund Pretzel Shop space on Avenue B (Monday)

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For rent signage arrives at the former Sigmund Pretzel Shop space on Avenue B

Sigmund Pretzel Shop closed last October after seven years in business at 29 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street.

Meanwhile the for rent signs have just arrived. I'm curious how outrageous what the asking rent is... unfortunately, the listing (PDF here) at ABS Partners says that info is available upon request...



As for Sigmund's, their Urbanspace Vanderbilt location lives on in Midtown ... and the popular pretzels are on the menu of several restaurants in the city and sold via carts at various locations and events.

Week in Grieview

[Photo outside Gem Spa by Derek Berg]

New ownership makes it official at the former Red Square on East Houston (Tuesday)

Ribbon-cutting ceremony marks return of a community garden on Avenue C (Friday)

City says no to landmarking row of Seventh Street homes, clearing way for demolition of No. 264 (Friday)

New life for Bolt, the dog abandoned in Tompkins Square Park (Saturday)

Wayland team opening Drift Inn at former Evelyn Drinkery space on Avenue C (Monday)

Sigmund Pretzel Shop makes closing official on Avenue B (Tuesday)

Blink Fitness is now open on Avenue A (Tuesday)

Another broker for former Chase branch on Avenue A, where the asking rent is nearly $50k a month (Monday)

Virgola is no more on Seventh Street (Monday)

Fall greetings from Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street (Tuesday)

Lamia's Fish Market headed to SLA for a beer-wine license for 45 Avenue B (Tuesday)

Three new name possibilities for Church of Most Holy Redeemer and Nativity on Third Street (Tuesday)

Squish Marshmallows signage arrives at 120 St. Mark's Place (Friday)

Out and About with Grant Stitt (Wednesday)

Something new to sit on at Astor Place (Wednesday)

Pit crew preps for 22-unit condo on First Avenue (Friday)

Tiny food for Astor Place (Thursday)

Celebrate Halloween with construction and water service interruptions! (Thursday)

Humongous fungus (Monday ... Tuesday)

Divya's Kitchen now open in the Bhakti Center on First Avenue (Wednesday)

Both storefronts at 111 E. Seventh St. are now for rent (Thursday)

The Dump Trump Collection (Monday)

SantaCon is Dec. 10 this year (Wednesday)

Turning over some new leaves for Cooper Square (Wednesday)

...and this is why we can't leave out nice discarded toilets...


[Photo on 10th Street by Steven]

Sigmund Pretzel Shop makes closing official on Avenue B

Our original location in East Village is now closed. Hard to believe it's been 7 years. A lot more to come. Stay tuned! We are forever NY's favorite pretzel ! Come see us at #urbanspacevanderbilt 💛😢🍻🍷💫🎬🌄

A photo posted by Sigmundpretzels (@sigmundpretzels) on Oct 24, 2016 at 8:09pm PDT

Yesterday we noted that the pretzel-centric bar-restaurant had not been open lately at 29 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street. The folks at Sigmund's shared a message on their social media accounts last night noting the closure.

The Urbanspace Vanderbilt location lives on in Midtown. And as noted, the popular pretzels are on the menu of several restaurants in the city and sold via carts at various locations and events.

As for Avenue B, perhaps this concept was too adult for the block... they'd need 186 giant TVs and kegs of free brunch mimosas to help put a dent in the nearby crowds.

[Updated] Sigmund Pretzel Shop hasn't been open lately on Avenue B

Residents who live near Sigmund Pretzel Shop at 29 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street note that the restaurant has been closed for the past week.

The Sigmund's Instagram account only mentions their Urbanspace Vanderbilt location in Midtown. The popular pretzels are on the menu of several restaurants in the city and sold via carts at various locations and events.

In the summer of 2013, Sigmund closed to renovate the Avenue B space, from what they called a place for a "neighborhood snack" to more of a "neighborhood restaurant" featuring items such as sandwiches on pretzel buns as well as a beer and wine license. They opened here in the fall of 2009.

H/T Salim!

Updated 10/25

The closing is official.

CB3/SLA committee March highlights: A new applicant for El Sombrero on Stanton Street?

[EVG file photo]

CB3 released the SLA licensing committee docket on Wednesday… the agenda includes a new proposal for El Sombrero on Stanton and Ludlow, which was previously going to become another outpost of Artichoke Pizza. That deal fell through, as BoweryBoogie first reported last month.

Now, an entity named Two Almontes Corp. is aiming to take over the inexpensive Mexican restaurant that opened here in 1984. We asked Regina Bartkoff, who has worked here since 1988, about all this. She has been out of work the last few weeks with a wrist injury. However! "I heard this rumor and called the restaurant and they told me no! Nothing is happening."

So perhaps chalk this up to some pre-mature paperwork. Anyway, The Hat remains open, of course — go while you still can!

Meanwhile, the rest of the docket is pretty quiet in the way of Big Ticket items…

Applications within Saturated Areas
• Zaragoza Mexican Deli & Grocery (Zaragoza Mexican Deli & Grocery Inc), 215 Ave A (b)

Not sure what is going on here… CB3 had previously OK'd a license for beer at Zaragoza back in May 2012.

• Sigmund Pretzel Shop Inc, 29 Ave B (upgrade to op)

• Paprika (Albatross Restaurant Corp), 110 St Marks Pl (op)

• Nublu (Tatu LLC), 151 Ave C (op)

• Bikinis (Eat Bikinis Inc), 56 Ave C (extend license to patio and gallery space)

New Liquor License Applications
• To be Determined, 117 2nd Ave (wb)

This was a scratch from the February agenda … A taker for the very short-lived Picnic on Second Avenue and East Seventh Street.

• To be Determined, 536 E 5th St (wb)

This is the address for the Minca Ramen Factory and Kuboya next door… not sure what space this application is for at the moment…

• Numero 28 (La Meridiana I Ltd), 176 2nd Ave (wb)

• Menkuitei (Shin Restaurant Inc), 63-69 Cooper Sq (op)

Or Menkui Tei.

• Mesa Seaview (Mesa Seaview), 41-43 E 7th St (upgrade to op)

????

• Eric Thant Corporation, 57 1st Ave (wb) (Pudgie's)

Hmm, Sushi Zayy already opened here at the former Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's action-packed combo.

• To be Determined, 269 E Houston St (op)

Hahahahaha. This is like the 78th time this has shown up on the agenda. The Local 269 closed here in September 2012. There have been a few potential suitors, though nothing ever came of the various proposals for the bar space. We spotted nine different for rent/sale signs on the business last summer ... The whole building remains on the market for $12 million.

• Gaia Lounge (Sams 1 Lounge Inc), 103 E 2nd St (wb)

The meeting is March 10 at 6:30 p.m. Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. 4th St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

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b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Tom Clark
Occupation: Musician, Tom Clark and the High Action Boys
Location: Avenue D, between 6th and 7th
Time: 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb 4.

I’m from a place called DeKalb, Illinois, about an hour west of Chicago. I grew up down the block from Cindy Crawford. In my mind, I like to remember DeKalb as this very Norman Rockwell place. The flying logo with the corn is the famous logo for DeKalb. At one time it was the second most recognizable logo next to Coca-Cola.

Luckily there was a university there. There were farms. When you were 13 you were allowed to do farm labor and I worked in cornfields for seven years, 10 hours a day, seven days a week. You can’t take a day off cause the corn doesn’t take a day off — that’s what they’d tell you. And then when I was 16, I got a job working in a grocery store. So in the summers I was working about 95 hours a week, 7 days a week in the cornfields and at night at the grocery store.

I start doing gigs, doing shows when I was about 14. I got into music real early. I went to Northern Illinois University for like 2 years. I was in college and working to pay for it, doing my own stuff and I joined a punk band there called Blatant Dissent. But I was just kind of lost about what to do in life. I was about 19 and I wrote a letter to Marshall Crenshaw, the songwriter and singer. I had never written a fan letter or anything in my life and he actually wrote me back. I still have the letter saying ‘Go for it.’

Nobody in my family had ever gone anywhere. I grew up with four brothers who all still live within 20 minutes of my mom, which is great. They were all jocks. I had to wait till they left the house before I could play music because it was for pussies. If Marshall Crenshaw hadn’t told me to go for it, I’d probably still be managing the grocery store now, which wouldn’t be the worst thing. He told me to go for it in New York and I still blame him to this day. But I did it.

I had never seen an ocean in my life; I had never been anywhere; I had been on a plane like once. When I moved here, I said I was going to give myself three years tops. I was 20 and I look back about it now, moving here when this was a totally different place. Crack was king then. I didn’t even drink when I was in DeKalb or in high school. I was never a partier. Friday nights I would be home listening to Beatles bootlegs with my friends and practicing. But I learned how to drink when I moved here, unfortunately.

I moved here in ’86 with some guys from my hometown. Two of them didn’t last very long, but one of them is still here. I didn’t have a job and we didn’t have a place lined up. I stood in front of the Astor Place barber shop when they had three floors. I stood there for nine and a half hours out front with my guitar singing and the owner, Enrico Vezza, the guy that started the place back in the ‘50s, kept coming out and giving me money. I made like $48, someone gave me a Budweiser, someone gave me cold French fries, and the pretzel vendor next to me, who I still see around almost 30 years later, gave me a pretzel.

Enrico said, ‘Come back and see me.’ I thought he was going to give me a job sweeping up hair and I would have been fine with that, but instead, for almost two years, I went from chair to chair asking for requests and playing songs — eight hours a day, seven days a week, for $20 a day. I was supposed to get tips but a lot of people went to Astor Place because they didn’t have any fucking money, and a lot of those people did not want to be sung to. And I had to make a dollar or 50 cents. I saw a lot of crazy people. It was an experience because I was pretty fresh-faced. This was all an eye opener.

I had so much drive then because I needed to make money and survive. I gave myself a buck and a half to three bucks a day to eat. There was a deli on Broadway around the corner from Astor Place. This guy who wasn’t supposed to do it, he’d tell me, would sell me half an order of rice and beans for a buck and a half. If I was really feeling rich I would get myself a tall boy for 90 cents.

I played in Washington Square Park but I wasn’t one of those hippie guys. I had my case out there. I needed to make money. I would go early to Washington Square Park, I’d sing for an hour, then I’d go to Astor Place for eight hours, and then eventually, I started playing on Bleecker Street, playing for college kids. It was insane how much I played. Good for my chops but hard on the voice. Boy, you know, it was such a good time back then. I just wanted to play. I would have played anywhere, a funeral, a bris. I would have played anything.

For years, all I did was play bars. I started doing a shitload of gigs and playing on the street all the time. A lot of the gigs I was doing here, you might not have been paid a lot, but you got paid in free booze. This was around ’86. So I learned real fast and real well, to my chagrin sometimes. I’d take the D train to Bainbridge Avenue in the Bronx and play in Yonkers and here. It was all Irish bars then.

I wanted to really focus on song writing and playing my own stuff, because when you’re doing those Irish gigs in the Bronx and Yonkers, and whatever I did, you get a little sick of playing "Brown Eyed Girl," though it got me into a lot of dorm rooms. So I jumped into the songwriting thing pretty fast down here. I met this guy Doggy, who’s a legend down here. He was my drummer for a long time. We used to play in the street, on the subways, around Astor Place, by the cube. We were walking around trying to find our first gig here. He played stand-up snare drum with cymbal. I played guitar. I played everything a hundred miles an hour. I can’t even play that fast anymore.

And one day we went into Nightingales on 2nd Avenue and they were having a Hardcore Matinee and by chance the late Tom Price just told us to get up and play. That was our first gig in the East Village and Tom turned out to be this great guy. That’s how I got hooked up down here and then I met the person who was managing Nightingales started managing this place called Chameleons on 6th Street by Sidewalk and we started playing there every Friday night.

I lived in this place in Brooklyn for 21 years, from between ages 21 and 42. That’s a lot of life and a lot of growing up. It was kind of legendary. I had two floors in that place, it was an old pre-civil war bar and I had a full recording studio in the basement. It was right on top of the Manhattan Bridge, right on it. It was me, Lenny Kaye from the Patti Smith Group and Jim Carroll, the poet and rockstar, who lived upstairs. Every band that came through town crashed there. It was really a waystation for so many touring bands.

I used to have these Thanksgiving parties for like 15 years. The last one we had over 250 people. My mom was from a town of 600 people. She had never been on a plane before, but I flew her out for 8 years in a row. The last one we did I cooked like five turkeys and four hams. I used every oven in the building running up and down the stairs. Live music all night long.

Once in awhile you just hit a snare in life and just go into a funk. You never know what causes it and sometimes it’s hard to shake out of it. This piece of shit bought the building after all those years and started kicking everyone out. We were in court for a year and finally we had to go. They tore the place down and the asshole who bought the building ended up going to jail for green card fraud. I worked for so hard for so long on music, busting my ass and then sometimes when you don’t get enough back, or you get the praise and acclaim, but then you don’t get enough other stuff back, things don’t come to fruition, and you get a little frustrated.

Some people work through it, some people can snap out of it, or some people like me think it’s a good idea to sit and drink a case of beer and stare at the wall. Then the next thing you know six or seven years go by and you think, ‘Hmmm, I haven’t been doing the work I used to do.’ I got burned out emotionally. I just got tired of it. It sounds like a cop out, but it’s not. Sometimes you get your ass kicked from all different sides and you decide to just start going through the motions to do whatever gets you through the day.

Now I’ve got a new lease on life where I’m kind of inspired. I’ve got a new album coming out. It's coming full circle. The guy who answered my only fan letter and made me move to New York, Marshall Crenshaw, whose a legend and one of the greatest living songwriters and guitar players in the world, is playing on three of the songs. It’s kind of coming full circle. It’s special to me.

I also host the Treehouse at 2A on Sunday nights. It was something I started two and a half years ago. Over the years I told them they should have live music up there, so finally they let me. It’s every Sunday night and it’s free. I only book people who I trust and like because I don’t have the pressure to put on four bands a night. When someone says, I wrote this song last night, of course it could go either way, but it can be pretty exciting to hear someone doing something for the first time. I take the Treehouse very personally. I want to keep it going because there’s just nothing like it anymore. All those places are gone or closing. I’m trying to keep alive something kinda like I had when I first moved here.

I wasn’t exactly a badass out causing trouble kind of guy, but 29 years later I’m still here. My dad told me, I used to think you were the crazy one, but now I think you’re the smart one. I don’t have a house, I don’t have a bunch of kids, but I’ve at least lived my life.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Smorgasburg favorites Schnitz planning restaurant at former Something Sweet on First Avenue

[EVG file photo by Dave on 7th]

Schnitz, which serves old-fashioned schnitzel sandwiches with unconventional toppings at Smorgasburg in Williamsburg and Dumbo, is applying for a beer-wine license for the former Something Sweet space on First Avenue at East 11th Street.

According to paperwork (PDF!) filed ahead of this month's CB3/SLA committee meeting, the quick-serve restaurant will hold 12 tables... with proposed hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; until 12:30 a.m. Thursday-Saturday; and noon-10 p.m. on Sunday.

Schnitz will serve sandwiches, soups and salads from its East Village location.

You can find their menu here.

I've never heard of Schnitz (or been to Smorgasburg, for that matter)... but I know that people like their food.

Here's an item on their food via Alan Richman at GQ:

I daringly tried a schnitzel, one of the least likable foods on earth. Allow me to sum up the attraction: hot, dry, fried meat on a hot, dry, summer afternoon. It's worth noting that during the preparation of schnitzel, the meat is often hit repeatedly with a hammer.

The purveyor was Schnitz, and the sandwich I selected, called Mrs. Child, turned out to be the dish of the day, a breaded chicken cutlet that was juicy within and crunchy on the outside. Such perfect texture is virtually impossible to achieve with veal, the preferred meat of German and Austrian schnitzel eaters. Fortunately, there were none around to complain. The schnitzel came on a Tom Cat pretzel roll with celery-root remoulade, which makes anything taste better.

Something Sweet, the family-owned bakery, had been closed since July 2012. There had apparently been a variety of issues, from problems with the landlord to health-related concerns for a family member.

The committee meeting is Monday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. — Community Board 3 Office, 59 East 4th Street (between 2nd Avenue and the Bowery).

Sigmund Pretzel Shop (soft) reopens today

Back in early May, Sigmund Pretzel Shop on Avenue B closed for renovations... to transform from what they call a place for a "neighborhood snack" to more of a "neighborhood restaurant" ... they (soft) reopen today at 4 p.m. ...

Week in Grieview

[Photo on Avenue A by Michael Sean Edwards]

RIP Taylor Mead (Thursday)

Students take the president's office at Cooper Union (Wednesday)

Landmarks Preservation Commission asks to see modified plans for the former PS 64 (Wednesday)

Papaya King opens on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

The great Block Drugs adding vision care next door (Monday)

Looking at punk nostalgia (Tuesday)

Sigmund Pretzel Shop closing to reopen as a restaurant on Avenue B (Monday)

The Christodora House receives Cultural Medallion (Tuesday)

Small fire at incoming Pride and Joy BBQ (Wednesday)

Chopping down trees on Third Avenue ... and St. Mark's Place

Open-air shops closing on Broadway to make way for condos (Thursday)

Restoring the Mosaic Trail (Friday)

"I was kind of the blue-collar harm reduction superstar junkie" (Wednesday)

Local 269 space back on market (Tuesday)

A Little Free Library on Extra Place (Monday)

... and by far the most-viewed post of the week: Amanda Bynes enshrined in the East Village (Monday)

Which made worldwide news...


[In which EVG learns about SEO...]

On Avenue B, Sigmund Pretzel Shop is closing to reopen as a restaurant

The folks at Sigmund Pretzel Shop on Avenue B just south of East Third Street let us know that, starting today, they will be closed until June 12 or so... Here is their official message via Facebook:

A lot of you know that we've been planning to graduate from a favorite neighborhood snack and sandwich place to favorite neighborhood restaurant for some time now.

And the time has come — we are briefly closing to do some magic in our East Village spot.

CLOSED BETWEEN MAY 6 - JUNE 12

ORDERS? YES!
You can call us at 646.410.0333 Mon-Fri 10 am - 4 pm and order pretzels, dips or book a catering gig. All deliveries will come to you directly from our bakery in Greenpoint, BK and our lovely Alicia will be on the phone to take care of all of you.

Have you found a clear, pretzel-shaped acrylic sculpture?

Also, a record for adjectives in a headline.

Bespoke Chocolates closing Thursday in Extra Place; what next for the former alley?

On Saturday we reported that Bespoke Chocolates — the first retailer to open in Extra Place — will close as of Thursday. Here's the note that's Bespoke sent out to friends...

They opened early in 2009. And we had a spirited (and friendly!) exchange on EV Grieve with Rachel Zoe Insler, Bespoke's owner, about ideal retail and the continued transformation of the neighborhood. (You can read her comments here.)

In April 2009, in Time Out's Eat Out Awards, the magazine's critics bestowed the Best Sweet Revenge award upon Bespoke Chocolates. Why?

As if the seven levels of city-permit hell weren’t enough, chocolatier and former Union Square Cafe pastry staffer Rachel Zoe Insler also had to navigate the wilds of don’t-ruin-my-neighborhood blogosphere resentment before she even opened the doors of her unassuming bonbon shop. Insler placated the haters with patience and warmth — and won over everyone else with her pretzel-covered sea-salted caramels, cardamom-scented Turkish coffee truffles and the rest of her handmade sweets. 6 Extra Pl at E 1st St (212-260-7103)

[Huh?]

Meanwhile, the Tashkent by Cheyenne showroom just around the corner of Extra Place shops closed several months ago.

As we've noted many times, developer AvalonBay has big plans for Extra Place — "a slice of the Left Bank, a pedestrian mall lined with interesting boutiques and cafes."



Perhaps when chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud opens his commissary with a possible retail space, Extra Place will finally get that jolt of life. So what gives here? Is Extra Place too far off the beaten path as EV Grieve reader Lisa suggested Saturday? Or, despite the luxurification of the Bowery, perhaps the neighborhood isn't ready for upscale retail? Or maybe it's the ghosts of the Bowery's past?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Bespoke Chocolates bids farewell from Extra Place

Extra Place gets its first tenant...And it's dessert (shocker!)

The Chocolate Wars (well, not at all, but we needed something that sounds CONTROVERSIAL)

Salt water daffy

The latest from the Pretzel Crisps folks.... And here's a little background on the previous Pretzel Crisps campaigns....

I know what we did last summer

Since Memorial Day, I've posted nearly 750 items... and, for as quickly as the summer seemingly passed by, looking back at some of these things from the summer seems like years ago...

Let's go back to Memorial Day weekend... and work our way to Labor Day... here are a few items from the last three months...

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2 Cooper Square is charing upwards of $20,000 a month for rents... the most ever for the East Village...

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Shrek was put on sale then thrown away on Avenue A...

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People discarded couches and fake fries...

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Someone overturned all the trash cans in Tompkins Square Park...

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We went to Bike Noise 3 in Tompkins Square Park...

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We went to the Loisaida Festival on Avenue C....

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We went to the BP protest on Houston....

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The new fence at the Cooper Square Hotel got tagged... and cleaned...

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You had a chance to become Tom Cruise's neighbor....

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We looked at the changing corners of the Bowery...

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The Post investigated the shocking truth that people under 21 will often try to buy beer and drink it.

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We were told not to shoot heroin during brunch at 7A.

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There was a wild scene in front of Northern Spy.

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L.E.S. Jewels went to jail.

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We debated over the future of Avenue A and Second Street, where Frank Prisinzano wanted to open a fast-food Italian eatery.

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We learned about the Dogs Tied Up site.

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The Mosaic Man returned to his trail with an apprentice.

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Construction started on the new home for the Lower Eastside Girls Club.

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The Shepard Fairey mural got ugly fast.

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Germany 4, England 1.

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More press for the East Village noise wars.

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We saw how fabulous and diverse 2 Cooper Square will be.

JULY

A man was charged for stomping a puppy to death in Tompkins Square Park.

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Germany invades Avenue C.

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It was pretty fucking hot for a long time.

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The fire on Avenue A and Houston.

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Tompkins Square Park lost trees to Dutch Elm disease.

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Tuli Kupferberg passed away.

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Ray got a three-year lease.

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The summer of bedbugs.

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Cooper Union shuts down its skateboarding ramp.

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We discussed the First Avenue bike lanes. Which we're still doing today.

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Summer of Sammy.

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RIP Markey Hayden Bena.

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We continued to protect our community gardens.

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The 13th Step owner talked with us about his new bar.

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Chloe Sevigny is still not on the Community Board.

AUGUST



Another weekend in the neighborhood.

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120 St. Mark's Place still doesn't have a Certificate of Occupancy.

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We looked at stupid pretzel ads.

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Kurve/Rhong Tiam finally closed.

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Tompkins Square Park supervisor Harry Greenberg retires.

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We invented the community board/State Liquor Authority Drinking Game.

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Cheap Shots ditches the truck bombs.

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Luster retired the Mariah Carey armpit-sniffing photo.

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East Village No. 1 for hipsters!

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[Bob Arihood]

Drama at the Key Food recycling center.

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The Shepard Fairey mural was removed.

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NYU returned to classes.

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There was a deadly shooting outside Sin Sin.

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Village Fabrics says goodbye.

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Oops! A reader wondered why we didn't include something about the Smurfs!




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