Reminders tonight: Free stuff at Veselka

As we mentioned back on Thursday, Veselka is celebrating 60 years on East Ninth Street and Second Avenue tonight with free food from 6-11.

David McWater looks to be the new owner of d.b.a.

A familiar name is set to become the new owner of d.b.a.

David McWater, a local bar owner and former longtime member of Community Board 3, has apparently emerged from a number of potential suitors for the popular 20-year-old d.b.a. at 41 First Ave.

According to paperwork on file at the CB3 website ahead of this month's SLA licensing meeting, McWater is behind "41 1st Avenue Rest Corp." that is applying for a new liquor license.



McWater, an often controversial local official, resigned from CB3 last September citing an array of reasons. According to The Villager, McWater has an ownership stake in Doc Holliday's, the Library and Milano's. He also owned Nice Guy Eddie's, which closed in June 2012 on Avenue A and East Houston.

As The Lo-Down pointed out in September 2013, McWater came "under fire for strongly advocating for the rights of bar owners, as a member of the community board’s State Liquor Authority Committee. McWater served as chairman of CB3 for four years until June of 2008. He has played critical roles in two major CB3 initiatives — the 2008 rezoning of 111 blocks of the LES and the East Village and the Seward Park development plan."

One d.b.a. source tell us that McWater isn't planning on any major changes at the bar, which specializes in craft beer.

Ray Deter and Dennis Zentek opened d.b.a. in 1994. Deter died in July 2011 from the injuries he suffered in a bicycling accident. Zentek died on March 23 from head injuries he sustained in a fall down a flight of stairs.

The application for 41 First Ave. will be heard at the Nov. 17 licensing committee meeting.

Korzo Haus has closed on East 7th Street

That's it for deep-fried burger specialists Korzo Haus, the small Slovakian-based joint on East Seventh Street just west of Avenue B.

EVG regular Dave on 7th spotted this sign on the restaurant's front door this past weekend...



Per the note on the door: "Thank You for years of your dedicated patronage. Our lease is up and this location is now closed. We are working on a new downtown Manhattan location. In the mean time we really hope you visit us at the original Korzo or Brooklyn Beet Company in Brooklyn."

Korzo Haus opened here in August 2010. The Voice named them the best burger in NYC in 2011.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Korzo Haus now open on Seventh Street

Soup and broth to go starting today at Brodo on 1st Avenue

Hearth chef Marco Canora has added a new to-go window (door?) on the First Avenue side of the restaurant.

And starting today, you can get broth and soup at Brodo (Italian for broth) ...



Here's the menu (you can click on the image for the details) …



Canora talked with New York magazine/Grub Street, who first reported on Brodo, about how all this came about:

“Twenty years of eating bread, drinking booze, smoking cigarettes, and working in kitchens really fucked me up in a big way.”

Until quite recently, you see, Canora was not the epitome of good health. He’d been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, he was suffering from gout, his cholesterol was through the roof, and he was thirty pounds overweight. Now, at 45, having made some major changes in his diet, he says he’s in the best shape of his life. And he attributes not a small part of this reversal of fortune to daily doses of the broth he’s always made as a base for Hearth’s soups and stocks.

Hearth is located at 403 E. 12th St.

348 Bowery on the market again

For rent signs are up again at 348 Bowery at Great Jones.

The Deth Killers of Bushwick opened a pop-up shop here in February, and have ended their tenure selling their brand of jeans and motorcycle stuff.

Kinda wish they would have left the old auto inspection sign alone…


[EVG file photo]


[EVG file photo]

Downtown Auto & Tire packed up and left the corner in April 2012.

And a recap of the action here: The space hit the market in May 2010 ... In July 2010, a few people were hoping to open the first New York branch of Segafredo Zanetti Espresso Café, the Italian-style coffee bar, on this spot. They went before CB2, who rejected the proposal, which included a patio with a retractable roof with soundproofing ... and sound-resistant sliding doors.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Please meet the next corner of the Bowery primed for something luxurious

The last days of the Downtown Auto and Tire?

The Bowery to get a South Beach diet

Making Faces at the Downtown Tire & Auto Center

Downtown Auto & Tire has left the Bowery

Your coming soon smoke shop signage

Yep, signage is up at the former Subway on First Avenue between East 13th Street and East 14th Street for the smoke shop that we mentioned was on its way… bringing a little class to the joint…

Mamani Pizza is closed for renovations

As far as 99-cent pizza goes, the stuff at Mamani at 151 Avenue A between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street is pretty decent.

Anyway, you may have to wait for another slice… the space is currently closed...



No word if this is a temporary or permanent closure for Mamani. The space had been on the market in recent years.

Snack Dragon has officially closed

Last July, the East Village Snack Dragon Taco Shack announced that it would be closing after a huge rent hike courtesy of landlord Steve Croman.

The sliver of a taco stand and hangout at 199 E. Third St. just west of Avenue B managed to stay open through Halloween night. Snack Dragon is now officially closed.

This past weekend, the contents of the shop were brought outside for sale … and giveaway.

The space remains on the market. The asking rent is $4,495, which is particularly insane given its size.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Cromanated: The East Village Snack Dragon Taco Shack is closing

Daily Juice moves across East 14th Street to become Vegtown

Daily Juice has left its storefront and moved across East 14th Street. The sign on the gate explains...



Their new home is at the former Chubby Mary's space here between First Avenue and Second Avenue ...





Chubby Mary's, the hero shop run by the Artichoke guys next door, closed back in the spring.

Thanks to EVG reader Pinch for the tip!

Day of the Dead at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery

Photos and text by EVG contributor Stacie Joy

Today is Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration.



I visited St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery for its Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture without Borders tribute to Mexican actress María Félix and Nobel-prize winning poet Octavio Paz.

There were workshops, songs, and plenty of excellent Mexican food and crafts, as well as an altar for community prayer, where people brought marigolds (traditional flowers or flores para los muerten), photos, candles (belas especial) and notes for those that departed.



The cold and blustery winds carried the scents of the candles, incense, and tacos, and the sounds of the musicians playing Mexican standards welcomed all to this free event.

Week in Grieview

Talking with Lady Bunny at the Pyramid Club (Friday)

NYC's 1st bar for pregnant women goes belly up on Avenue A (Monday)

"Cocaine was fantastic in the 1980s." (Wednesday)

Clayton Patterson responds to Taylor Swift's "Welcome to New York" (Thursday)

TakeMeHome Rotisserie Chicken coming to Avenue A (Monday)

Two years after Sandy (Wednesday)

The return of Lucky Cheng's (Thursday)

Attorney General takes down notorious "tenant relocator" (Monday)

Reactions to the landmarking of Town & Village Synagogue on East 14th Street (Wednesday)

Signs of life at East Village Radio, but what does it mean? (Monday)

The John's of 12th Street documentary premieres soon (Friday)

Caratoes creates a mural on East 12th Street and Avenue C (Tuesday)

A look at 331 E. Houston St., with a rooftop deck for outdoor showers and "Live Free or Die Hard" (Tuesday)

The East Fifth Street jet ski (Thursday)

383 Lafayette wrapped ahead of NYU expansion (Thursday)

First sign of Rosie's Mexican, coming soon to Second Avenue (Monday)

Empire Biscuit turns 1 (Friday)

...and one last look at Halloween weekend... with photos from Union Square by James and Karla Murray...

Dining at Beronberon on 1st Avenue

Beronberon opened on Sept. 11 on the northeast corner of First Avenue and 10th Street.

The Japanese restaurant, whose management team includes Yuji Umeki, a manager at nearby Kenka, features a menu (7 pages!) similar to the former tenant — Sapporo East.

To date we haven't heard much about Beronberon's food … until Robert Sietsema filed a generally positive report for Eater on Friday.

A few excerpts:

Center of the restaurant's culinary program are the cut-rate bento boxes. In its final days, these cost around $16 at Sapporo East; now the price at Beronberon is approximately $18 ... Quite a deal, and delicious!

And!

Reflecting its status as a sort of Japanese diner, the over-rice donburi selections — served with soup or salad — constitute meals that might fall in the "blue plate specials" category. The pork cutlets are profuse and of high quality, with just enough edge-fat hidden by just enough breading. The soy poured over the rice is slightly sweet, which guarantees that you'll actually finish the rice underneath. The "Mononoke special ramen" ($12), one of eight choices, was not quite as good, beginning with the noodles themselves and extending to the miso broth. You can find much better ramen at the dozen or so other places that serve it in the East Village.

You can read the whole review here.

After 30 years in business, Sapporo East closed at the end of December along with its sister establishment Shima on Second Avenue and East 12th Street, as we first reported.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Sapporo East has closed for good

A new beginning for Sapporo East?

A sad day for Mother Earth at the former Sapporo East

Blown cover on 2nd Avenue

This dumpster load is no longer secure outside 128 Second Ave., where the building is undergoing a gut renovation just south of St. Mark's Place…

Argumentative man in King Tut T-shirt stabs onlooker for recording fight: cops

Here's part of the report via the Daily News about the stabbing that took place Friday evening:

The wild-eyed man in a King Tut shirt was behind an E. 13th St. building near Third Ave. when he started yelling at his first victim. But his attention was diverted when a 41-year-old man began recording the argument on his phone. Cops said the suspect pulled a knife and stabbed the witness in the midsection before running off.

The victim was treated and released at Bellevue.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.