The Winter Antifolk Festival starts tomorrow at Sidewalk

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Up from the Underground Winter Antifolk Festival Highlights 50 Artists from Legendary Songwriting Scene at East Village’s Sidewalk Cafe, February 22 through 26

Nearly 50 songwriters and other performers who have drawn attention within the underground network of artists centered at Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village will be highlighted in the 2012 Winter Antifolk Festival from February 22 through 26.

For almost two decades the Festival has featured the most promising and prominent performers from the scene at Sidewalk. The venue is known for serving as a launching pad for the careers of artists like Regina Spektor, Jeffrey Lewis, and The Moldy Peaches and also is home to a supportive and deep-seated artistic community.

Among those scheduled to perform are Larkin Grimm, Level 2, Turner Cody, Jon Berger, Debe Dalton, and Emily Einhorn, as well as Osei Essed and Ching Ching, two Sidewalk favorites making long-awaited return visits to the club. The 2012 Winter Antifolk Festival is held at Sidewalk Cafe, 94 Avenue A (Sixth Street). No cover, one drink minimum.

Find the full schedule here.

More about Boukiés, opening next month on Second Avenue

[Bobby Williams]

We received a news release yesterday with more information about Boukiés, the new Greek eatery from restaurateur Christos Valtzoglou coming to Second Avenue and East Second Street...

A few highlights cut-n-paste from the news release...

• Valtzoglou has enlisted famed chef, Diane Kochilas, as Consulting Chef, along with Chef de Cuisine, Stefan Sanders, to design a menu rooted in delicious, modern variations of authentic Greek fare.

• Boukiés is slated to open in March.

• Culinary offerings at Boukiés, which means “small bites” in Greek, include classics like: Greek taverna mussel saganaki and unique regional dishes such as Thessaloniki eggplant “dolmas” with spiced ground meat, Volos-style shrimp and cauliflower with a twist, feta-filo flutes with Greek honey and more. Boukiés will offer only two main courses: grilled lamb chops and Greek grilled fish.

• Boukiés will be open daily for lunch and dinner, offering brunch on weekends and expanded outdoor dining when weather permits.

Previously.

Report: 2 men busted for breaking into Il Bagatto on East Second Street

From the NYPD Daily Blotter in the Post today ...

Two 20-year-old men were caught breaking into an East Village restaurant, police sources said.

Andy Bolta and Alexander Gomez slipped into Il Bagatto, on East 2nd Street near Avenue B, at 2:15 a.m. on Feb. 13, the sources said.

But cops on patrol spotted them and quickly busted them.

Gomez later copped to having also broken into Spice Cove, a nearby restaurant, and Landmark Vintage Bicycles, law-enforcement sources said.

He was charged with three counts of burglary and Bolta with one, police sources said.

More photos from the cab accident outside Hearth Friday night

Friday night around 11, as Eater pointed out, a cab ended up plowing into Hearth on First Avenue at 12th Street... The folks at Hearth said that no one was injured... In any event, EV Grieve reader neerad jet sent us two more photos following the accident...

When Avenue C started getting swallowed up by the earth

At 13th Street today... just keeping an eye on this sinkhole of sorts... Photo by Bobby Williams.

5 Napkin Burger opening tonight for dinner

East Village resident Rob passes along this photo from outside 5 Napkin Burger on East 14th Street and Third Avenue this afternoon ...

As you can see, debuting for dinner tonight... and then starting full-service burgering tomorrow with lunch and dinner ... If you go, then please let us know how it was... and if you really needed five napkins...

Previously.

Noted

Via an interview from the Daily News real-estate section the other day with BOND senior vice president Mary Lou Currier:

What’s your next hottest nabe in NYC?
The East Village/Bowery. It’s really heating up and getting fancier. I consider the East Village the last "authentic" neighborhood in NYC.

Movie version of 'East Fifth Bliss' has a March 23 release date

We spotted this poster on First Avenue this morning... We're glad to see that "The Trouble With Bliss" has a release date — March 23 at the Village East Cinemas on Second Avenue.

The movie is based on the novel "East Fifth Bliss" written by former East Village resident Douglas Light, who lived at 343 E. Fifth St. for several years.

Michael C. Hall plays thirtysomething Morris Bliss who "watches as his life comically unravels after he enters into a relationship with the daughter of a former high school classmate." The movie co-stars Lucy Liu, Brie Larson, Peter Fonda and, we hope, Slum Goddess, who served as an extra in scene filmed at the Blue and Gold.

We pointed out some of the filming around here back in the spring of 2010... in Tompkins Square Park, Seventh Street, 13th Street, among other locations...

There's a "Trouble With Bliss" Tumblr here with more photos and info...

And we'll have more later on all this...

Previously on EV Grieve:
About the building that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss"

Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light

At Coat of Arms Friday Night

LES Clothing Co. had its grand opening celebration at Coat of Arms on 43 Clinton St. on Friday night. Shawn Chittle stopped by and took these photos...

First, though, as BoweryBoogie reported last October, Robert Lopez, founder and CEO of LES Clothing Co., had filed a lawsuit of trademark infringement against Coat of Arms, among other retailers.

However, as Lopez told Shawn: "We worked it out ... good situation turned of it."

Indeed, as you can see...

DJ Ralphy CBS...

LES-based rapper Six Lowa...

Robert Lopez...

For further reading:
Interview: Robert Lopez of LES Clothing Company (BoweryBoogie, November 2011)

This is what 298 E. Second St. looked like on Feb. 19, 2012

This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place... The photos may not be the most telling now, but they likely will be one day...

Today

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Week in Grieview

[Avenue A near 10th Street]

A three-alarm fire at 21 E. Second St. (Wednesday)

The Holiday will become a restaurant-lounge serving fish-n-chips (Tuesday)

Happy birthday McSorley's (Friday)

A runaway running machine (Thursday)

For the people who said that the Mars Bar was always a pit (Monday)

Be Tom Cruise's neighbor (Tuesday)

A new look at 51 Astor Place (Wednesday)

It was Coen Brothers Week (Friday)

A short-term rental where the guests aren't supposed to talk to the neighbors (Tuesday)

The Bowery's first Synagogue (Monday)

Starbucks on First Avenue and East Third Street opens tomorrow

Hugh Burckhardt at More Than Usual points us to this sign at the freshly egged Starbucks on First Avenue and East Third Street...

Meanwhile, we took a look inside ourselves on Friday evening ...

This will be one of the select locations to serve Starbucks Reserve™ Coffee. Per a 2010 Starbucks blog post:

Everyone claims to have the world’s best coffee! But not often are the words “exotic, rare and exquisite” used to describe that coffee. For Starbucks to append all three words, the coffee must be really special.

We’ve introduced Starbucks Reserve™ coffee to a limited number of stores. This new line of coffees, each available only for a short time, represents the best of the best! You can expect to find flavors that explode on your palate and fade with a lingering complexity. When you taste a Starbucks Reserve™ coffee, you’ll be reminded of our heritage and the early days of the specialty coffee business that we helped to create.

Only 3% of the world’s coffee is good enough to make it into a bag of our coffee, and Starbucks Reserve™ represents a tiny fraction of that 3%. You all have told us that you want to see rare and exotic coffees in our stores, and that is exactly what we have done in bringing treasures like Galapagos San Cristobal to you.

And this looks like the latest Reserve release... from a news release dated Jan. 5, 2012:

Starbucks announces the release of Organic Ethiopia Sidamo® coffee, one of the most renowned coffees in the world for its distinctive lemon flavors. For the first time in the Starbucks coffee line, follow the journey from crop to cup by scanning the QR code on the bag. From being meticulously tended by coffee farmers in their family gardens, to how each cherry is ripened and handpicked at the peak of its flavor, to the exquisite flavor notes in each cup, this digital journey is a unique opportunity for customers to learn more about this coffee.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Today's sign of the apocalypse: Starbucks taking over The Bean's space on First Avenue and Third Street

The East Village rolls out welcome wagon for new Starbucks

There are pieces of Kate Moss all over the East Village

You've seen those Kate Moss ads for Supreme seemingly everywhere the last few days...

We've seen people try to pull these things off the plywood for souvenirs...

...and workers charged with keeping the construction sites ad-free...

... as a result, there are bit and pieces of the ads on a lot of sidewalks this morning...

Someone egged the new Starbucks on First Avenue last night

Looked about two or three eggs here at East Third Street. And this employee had to clean it up...

This location officially opens tomorrow.

Noted

"Heavier loads"? Photo by Stephen Popkin last night.

Report: Cab crashes into Hearth last night

[Image via @marcocanora]

From Eater, we learn that a cab crashed into Hearth on First Avenue at East 12th Street last night around 11. There weren't any injuries.

Packing up the 1960s on East Ninth Street

After the Coen Brothers filmed scenes for the 1960s period piece "Inside Llewyn Davis" on East Ninth Street yesterday ... crews were on the scene early this morning to pack up the dressed-up storefronts...

Will Good Beer keep the Schaefer sign in the window?

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Coen Brothers want to dress up East Ninth Street

Today outside the Hyatt Union Square

As the signs outside the incoming Hyatt Union Square on Fourth Avenue and 13th Street promised, a crane was on the scene today...

We were hoping to see them hoist the hydroponic bamboo garden. Unfortunately, it was a few things that looked like this.

What is this? (Please, no serious responses.)

Mr. B is missing

Spotted on First Avenue near Fifth Street.