More details on 2 new fast-casual Indian restaurants from the owners of the Masalawala

Back on June 23, we reported that restaurateurs Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya of the Masalawala fame were opening a quick-serve establishment at 149 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. 

The restaurateurs, who also operate Adda and Dhamaka, apparently have big designs on fast-casual Indian food.

As the Times reports, Mazumdar and Pandya are opening two spots in the East Village.

The first of the team's fast-casual restaurants, the fried chicken-centric Rowdy Rooster, opens in August on First Avenue and Ninth Street. Mr. Pandya is studying the numerous Indian iterations of fried chicken, from pakoras to Chicken 65, a spicy snack that supposedly originated in a hotel in Chennai. 

A month later comes Kebabwala, on Second Avenue and Fifth Street, which will focus on classic kebab preparations like chicken tikka and seekh kebabs.

Kebabwala will be going into 82 Second Ave., which has seen several restaurants come and go through the years, including 7 Spices and Reyna Exotic Turkish Cuisine. The owners are expecting a fall opening.

As for 149 First Avenue, which will house Rowdy Rooster, the storefront has been vacant since Afandi Grill closed after 13 months in October 2019. And several years earlier, This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef roamed the space until March 2014.

In April, Mazumdar and Pandya decided not to renew the lease for the Masalawala, bringing an end to its 10-year run just below Houston at 179 Essex St., as Eater first reported. 

Photos by Steven

The Anthology Film Archives returns with in-person screenings on Aug. 5

Quick update to our last post... The Anthology Film Archives will start hosting in-person screenings again on Aug. 5.

The 51-year-old NYC institution on Second Avenue and Second Street is returning with a very Anthology-like screening... 

Anthology Film Archives marks its long-awaited post-pandemic reopening with a program that could only take place "in real life," projected theatrically and on film: our brand-new restoration of Paul Sharits's rarely screened early masterpiece, Razor Blades (1965-68). 

The latest in our ongoing series of restorations of Sharits's films, Razor Blades is a typically mind-bending, consciousness-expanding experiment in perception and a classic among "expanded cinema" works. 

By means of color combinations, the strobe-like flickering of the dueling projectors, a high-volume stereo soundscape, and single-frame imagery, it demonstrates the cinema's capacity for exploring the mysterious interaction between light, color, rhythm, eye, and mind. The double projection piece never exhibits precisely the same way, rendering every screening a unique experience.

Find more details about the reopening here. 

As previously noted, the Anthology has been showcasing its independent, experimental and avant-garde fare online since the start of the pandemic. 

Former Banco Popular space for rent on Houston and B

From the not breaking news department... the retail space at 310 E. Houston St. at Avenue B is for rent. 

The for-lease signs have been up since the spring, but the corresponding listing only just arrived online. 

This was the Banco Popular branch, which, per trends, shuttered in late January. 

According to the RIPCO listing, there are two available here — totaling nearly 4,000 square feet. 

Comments per the listing: 

• Space will be delivered in white-box condition 

• No food uses considered 

• Divisions considered 

And pricing is available upon request. 

What would you like to see here? Record store? Zine shop? Or we could bring back the Gaseteria, which closed here in 2005 when the lot was going condo...

Gaseteria pic via

Former bubble tea shop space for rent on 3rd Avenue

A for-rent sign arrived last week in the window at 110 Third Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street, marking the official end of One Zo. 

The bubble tea brand from Taiwan debuted here last fall... and had been open as recently as late June.

While One Zo decided to close, several other bubble tea brands continue to try the neighborhood, including the April arrival of Gong Cha on St. Mark's Place... with Xing Fu Tang coming soon to the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

Monday's parting shot

New signage (as of yesterday) on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place for New York City Gun Club (as seen around various rolldown gates in recent months).

Workers are actually fitting this storefront for a bubble tea shop. 

Photo today by Steven

Coming soon: Cutlets Sandwich Co. opening an outpost on 3rd Avenue

An outpost of Cutlets Sandwich Co. is coming soon to 99 Third Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

The signage arrived here last week for the quick-serve sandwich maker specializing in chicken and eggplant cutlets ... this will be the third outpost for the growing company launched by Richard Zaro of Zaro's Family Bakery. (H/T Eater.) 

Cutlets started as a delivery-only service, with the first shop arriving on Broadway near 20th Street this past December. However, they closed that spot to open in a larger space on West 35th Street ... there's also a Cutlets by McCarren Park. 

Here's what Greenpointers had to say about Cutlets:

So what makes Cutlets stand out? The deli is committed to serving a better-for-you sandwich, meaning they exclusively serve unprocessed proteins, free from antibiotics, hormones and added sugars. Sandwiches are topped with seasonal vegetables and built between meticulously sourced breads and spreads. For full transparency, a full sourcing list of local producers and farms is listed on Cutlets' website.

You can find their menu here. 

This EV address was previously home to Thaimee Table.

Italian favorite Via Della Pace announces itself in new 4th Street home

The new home of Via Della Pace looks to be shaping up at 87 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. (You can see the VDP-branded awning here, for starters.)

As we noted in January, the owners were on the CB3-SLA docket for a new liquor license for this space.

The 17-year-old Italian restaurant lost its home during the devastating fire on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street in December 2020.

Via Della Pace had been closed since the previous fire on Feb. 10, 2020. At the time, the owners were unsure if they would ever reopen on Seventh Street. The fire last Dec. 5 took care of that, as workers had to demolish the five-floor building. (Giovanni Bartocci, the restaurant's co-owner and chef, was able to salvage the Via Della Pace sign, per an Instagram post.)

No word on a possible opening date.

This part of the storefront at 87 E. Fourth St. has been vacant since Cucina di Pesce closed in September 2018.  

The Lazy Llama Coffee Bar opens cafe in the First Park kiosk

The Lazy Llama Coffee Bar debuted an outpost in the First Park kiosk late last week. 

Llama@thePark is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. ... (and directly across the street from its coffee shop at 72 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue). 

Aside from coffee drinks, the kiosk here outside the F stop is serving a variety of sandwiches, wraps, burgers, fried chicken, salads and more...

Mud Coffee had been in this space since the fall of 2013. However, Mud closed up here early last fall.

Who's NOT on tonight's CB3-SLA docket: Roberta's Pizza, Spiegel

CB's SLA committee meets tonight... as of now, five applicants will be appearing before the group. 

Meanwhile, several applicants are no longer on tonight's docket... including two of particular interest. One is Spiegel ... multiple tipsters told us at the start of the summer that the cafe is returning to its former home at 26 First Ave. at Second Street ...

Expect to see them another month as they apply for a new liquor license for the corner space. (They previously had a full liquor license until they closed at some point during the pandemic.) 

Also no longer on tonight's agenda — Roberta's Pizza.

As previously reported, 15 Avenue A between Houston and Second Street is undergoing a vertical expansion.

The new retail tenant was expected to be a wine bar from Bushwick-based pizzeria Roberta's.

Chef-owner Carlo Mirarchi told Grub Street in September 2019 that they were going to open what he called Roberta's Wine Bar.

However, nothing more was ever mentioned about the project, and it was unknown if those plans were moving forward. Obviously so with the application for a new liquor license. (The retail space at 15 Avenue A was previously the Family Dental Center, which moved down to Essex Street in 2017.)

Roberta's got its start in Bushwick in 2008. As Eater noted, Roberta's had been on an expansion kick, with openings in several food halls, and adding two locations in Los Angeles and one in Williamsburg ... not to mention its frozen pizza business ... and burger joint.

Aces Fine Food and Spirits in the works for 197 2nd Ave.

Tonight's CB3-SLA committee meeting includes an applicant vying for 197 Second Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

According to the public documents on the CB3 website, applicant Michael Dollaway is proposing an establishment called Aces Fine Food and Spirits. The configuration for the cocktail lounge-restaurant features 12 tables for 36 guests as well as a 22-seat bar. 

Dollaway's bio posted with the questionnaire shows a background in management/ownership at several now-closed upscale spots, including Provocateur in the Meatpacking District and Lily Pond in East Hampton. 

No. 197 was most recently Black Emperor, which closed last August. Shoolbred's closed here in June 2017 after nearly 10 years in business. This address was Jade Mountain, home of the great Chow Mein sign, until 2007.

CB3's SLA committee meets tonight at the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton. The festivities start at 6:30.

Snack Bowery sets up shop on the Bowery

Updated 7/20: The shop is now open

Snack Bowery, giving off some "Rocky Horror" vibes with the lips logo, is coming soon to 324 Bowery just north of Bleecker. 

A look inside shows shelves with, well, snacks — a variety of candy, sodas, chips, popcorn, etc.  

You can found their website here. When they do debut, their posted hours are 1 p.m. to midnight daily.

The last tenant for this storefront was By Name, the cafe-gallery that closed during the pandemic.

Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week include (with a random photo outside Cafe Mogador on St. Mark's Place the other morning) ... 

• Police investigating the death of man on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Reports from CB3's public review of the Open Restaurants program (Thursday) 

• Kmart on Astor Place shutters after 25 years (Monday) Kmart tweetstorm (Thursday) A grocery store is on the way (Friday) 

• NYPD seeking duo who have burglarized 9 East Village businesses (Friday) 

• PJ O’Rourke regroups with a pop-up space on Broadway (Wednesday) 

• ❤️❤️ for Hash Halper (Sunday) 

• At WitchsFest USA — A Pagan Faire on Astor Place (Monday) 

• Report: David Bowie's former apartment sells on Lafayette (Tuesday)

• Christeene at the Parkside Lounge (Tuesday) 

• Local blog contributor tries the Kraft Mac-n-Cheese ice cream at Van Leeuwen (Thursday) 

• Green Land Gourmet Deli ready to debut on 10th Street and Avenue C (Thursday) 

• Pinc Louds release La Atómica, prepare for tour (Saturday) 

• El Rinconcito is on the move (Wednesday) 

• New office building bulks up on Houston (Monday) 

• Ideal Glass sign disappears on 2nd Street (Tuesday) 

• Prepping for "And Just Like That" on Avenue A (Friday) 

• Starbucks reduces its hours on Avenue A (Monday)

... and tonight and next Sunday, you can find a neon art installation by Patrick Nash Studio in the courtyard of 150 First Ave. at Ninth Street (PS122) ...

The poster for the event on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue has an extra attraction listed for July 25... hijinks?

Vomitorium!

---

Follow EVG on Instagram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

Thanks for the memories: Mars Bar closed 10 years ago today

True story: Mars Bar closed for good 10 years ago today on Second Avenue at First Street.

It's one of those kinda-seems-like-yesterday moments. I recall Goggla emailing me with the news...

The place was closing anyway to make way for the 12-story apartment building on the lot... But people thought that they had the rest of the summer of 2011 to enjoy the bar... or at least go to it.

However, a DOH visit did them in on July 18, 2011 — 54 violation points and mentions of every known type of fly. (Filth flies! Flesh flies!) And apparently, owner Hank Penza said the hell with it. And closed. 

For a time, the place was the greatest, strangest, dirtiest bar around the neighborhood. 

Here's what the Times had to say about Mars Bar once ... 

[I]n its prime it was perhaps the epitome of an East Village bar: menacing, dark and covered inside and out by graffiti, stickers and impromptu spray-painted artworks. Its forbidding restroom was an urban legend in and of itself.

It wasn't always that way ... per a different feature at the Times:

When the bar opened in 1984 ... the facade was gleaming. "We thought, 'Oh no, another sushi bar; there goes the neighborhood,'" said Jim Sizelove, who was part of the rowdy art scene called the Rivington School.

We can relive the bar here for a moment... in 2016, East Village-based filmmaker Jenny Woodward released an entertaining video short titled "Last Days of the Mars Bar," featuring interviews with Penza in the days leading up to the bar's closure.

Penza shares some colorful anecdotes (and perhaps tall tales), such as how the bar got its name and how the first art appeared on the bar's walls.

And Penza doesn't seem all that broken up about the end of days here.

"Fuck the bar. What am I, crazy? There's a beginning and an end. You hear? The Mars Bar will live forever and I'll die... I feel like there's a beginning and an end, and this is the end to another chapter in my life."

Penza died on Oct. 29, 2015. He was 82.

Here's a rather serene slice-of-Mars-Bar life showing a few people quietly sitting while David Bowie's "China Girl" plays on the jukebox. (Thanks Alex!) The video isn't dated ... it was uploaded in April 2012. It's aptly titled in part "Sweet Memories."

And don't forget "My Mars Bar Movie," the 87-minute documentary directed by the late Jonas Mekas of the nearby Anthology Film Archives.

The corner storefronts where Mars Bar stood were eventually demolished in late 2011/early 2012 to make way for the residential building called Jupiter 21. The corner space now houses a TD Bank and Kollectiv, "an urban retreat center" that features an herbal pharmacy and spa.

Anyway, thanks for the memories...

Sunday's opening shot

Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street this morning... compare this to yesterday's opening shot.

Saturday's parting shot

A Ferrari gets a ticket on Seventh Street at Second Avenue... and the traffic enforcement agent told EVG contributor Derek Berg that this was his first time ticketing a Ferrari...

Pinc Louds release La Atómica, prepare for tour

The second full-length record by local favorites Pinc Louds dropped yesterday... you can check out La Atómica right here. 

The band — Claudi, RaiMundo and Marc Mosteirin — will be embarking on a 10-city tour next month starting with a date in Chicago. 

WFUV's Delphine Blue interviewed Claudi last night on her "Whole Wide World" program. (It starts at the two-hour mark.)

Top photo in Tompkins Square Park by Stacie Joy

Previously on EV Grieve:

• At the first Pinc Louds show of 2021 in Tompkins Square Park

• An end-of-summer appreciation: Pinc Louds  

EVG Etc.: The future of crafting at Downtown Yarns; the spice world of SOS Chefs

The weekend plant vendor on Avenue A and 6th Street via Stacie Joy 

• Tow-truck driver kills 85-year-old pedestrian outside Union Square (Streetsblog) 

• Thoughts on Eric Adams and Gov. Cuomo's grim vision for NYC's future (Intelligencer) 

• A higher percent of hit-and-run drivers in NYC are getting away with the crime (Gothamist) 

• Avenue A's Downtown Yarns and "the unknown world of post-pandemic crafting" (The New York Times) 

• Appreciating the Korean Cajun cuisine of Kjun on Ninth Street (The New Yorker) 

• David Harbour talks about drinking at the long-gone Korova Milk Bar on Avenue A (Mashed) 

• The spice world of SOS Chefs on Avenue B (CBS 2) 

• An interview with Libby Schoettle, the artist behind PhoebeNewYork (Time Out) 

• A look at the upcoming Dash Snow doc (Vice) 

• Mexican politician arrested in Basquiat, Haring art forgery case (NBC News) 

• Just what we need: A Moxy Hotel rises on the Bowery (NYY) 

• The Ramones in space! (PunkNews.org) 

• Pre-sale tix are available for the 50th-anniversary screening of "Willy Wonka & Chocolate Factory" at the Regal Union Square on Aug. 15 (Official site)

... and a small-world moment on Twitter...

6 pm Gujarat India views. 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/728E80kh1t

— WordsbyDhaval (@dpmsocial) July 17, 2021

Saturday's opening shot

The heatwave has rendered the reflective pool on Avenue A near Ninth Street useless for Instagrammers (sobbing emoji).

Perhaps today's forecast, which includes a flash flood watch, will restore the perpetual puddle to its fully plenished state ...

About the No_B Fest on Avenue B tomorrow (Saturday!)

Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street will be the place to be tomorrow for a community event to highlight the work of local artists. 

The No_B Fest will offer up an array of live music, art, poetry and theater on the Avenue from 4 to 8 p.m. 

Participating businesses including the Roost, Revision Lounge and Mona's, whose bartender (and photographer extraordinaire) Aidan Grant helped organize this event. 

And some info via the EVG inbox...

From street art to photography the block will be part gallery, part stage and part dance. 

A raffle and auction will allow anyone to win the artwork. All proceeds will go directly into the pockets of the participating musicians. 

Overall it's a desire to once again light up the foundation these artists built careers on and inspire the power of community collaboration.

It's your 'Fault'

 

The UK-based post-punk trio Desperate Journalist released a new record earlier this month... the video here (flash warning!) is for the first single — "Fault."