Restaurateur Gabriel Stulman is now eyeing the currently empty Great Jones Cafe space for an undisclosed new venture.
An EVG tipster pointed out this item on the Community Board 2's March 13 meeting agenda:
Apps. to the SLA for New License for Full Liquor On-Premise (OP): Corp. to be formed by Gabriel Stulman, d/b/a TBD, 54 Great Jones St. 10012 (OP – Restaurant with sidewalk cafe)
Last fall, a group of applicants — Anthony C. Marano (who owns the building at 54 Great Jones St.), Scott Marano, Jonathan Kavourakis and Avi Burn — were OK'd for a new liquor license on their second try for the restaurant between the Bowery and Lafayette.
During the September 2018 CB2 meeting, Kavourakis, a former chef at The Stanton Social and Vandal, described the menu for the new venture as "modern American." Burn, an owner of Pinks on 10th Street and Pinks Cantina in the Bowery Market, expounded on that later last fall in an email: "The idea was really to keep as much of the spirit of place as possible. We will clean up, make some cosmetic changes, re-do the food and drink menu while keeping some classics and aim to offer a great update to a classic neighborhood restaurant."
No word yet what Stulman has planned for the space. (He's been part of the fauxstalgia wave.)
Stulman, under his Happy Cooking Hospitality, operates a handful of West Village establishments, including Joseph Leonard, Jeffrey's Grocery, Fedora, Fairfax and Bar Sardine.
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. The liquor-license approval last fall wasn't without debate, mostly over hours of operation and the current kitchen's venting system. (This past September, both the applicants and CB2 agreed to a layover on the application for exploration of the above topics.) The previous applicants had agreed to move the kitchen vent from the front facade. Nearby residents had complained about the noise and smell from the vent in recent years.
Great Jones Cafe never reopened after Jim Moffett, the longtime owner, died last July at age 59. The Cafe first arrived in 1983.
Previously on EV Grieve:
RIP Jim Moffett, owner of the Great Jones Cafe
New owners vying for the Great Jones Cafe space
[Updated] The future of the former Great Jones Cafe
CB2 SLA committee OKs license for new ownership of Great Jones Cafe