Plus sur l'histoire la plus importante jamais - le café de trottoir de DBGB

Selon EV affligez-vous, qui perd clairement son esprit, le café de trottoir de DBGB était en service la nuit passée.

Peels unveils it sidewalk cafe

Here on the Bowery at Second Street... Not quite the tropical paradise of the DBGB sidewalk cafe, but the tables just went up...

Peels is now the seventh eating-drinking establishment with sidewalk seating on the Bowery between Third Street and Houston... joining Gemma, DBGB, Agozar, Think Coffee, Double Crown and Slàinte.

Pulino's enters Bowery sidewalk cafe garden party; DBGB put on notice

Three months after DBGB installed a garden oasis on the Bowery, corner mate Pulino's has retaliated with its own urban greenery...

Check mate, Boulud!

A quick look inside DBGB

Sometime this spring, DaBo's brasserie/diner place -- DBGB (ugh, sorry) -- will open at 299 Bowery between Houston and First Street. (Latest projection has it opening in May.)



The doors to the location, a block south of you-know-what, were open last night... the fans were blowing out toward the Bowery to provide ventilation for the paint job that was happening inside. I went to step inside for a better look when Mr. Unamused Supervisor did one of those, Halt!-who-goes-there moves. Anyway, opening in May? Maybe late May!

Report: Cherche Midi looks to be closing on the Bowery

[Image via Instagram]

Cherche Midi, Keith McNally's French brasserie on southwest corner of the Bowery and Houston, appears to be closing this summer.

Rumors were circulating earlier last week about the impending closure. On Friday, Patch reported that the restaurant had filed paperwork with the state about the matter:

The restaurant will close on June 11, according to a notice filed with the state. Under New York law, private employers must provide written notice if their business will close, suffer a mass layoff or relocate. The notice says that Cherche Midi will lay off 46 employees because of a "plant closing." The closing date is listed as June 11 on the notice. It lists the reason for the relocation as "economic."

The restaurant has not made any official comments yet about its fate.

McNally, who also runs the Odeon, Balthazar, Minetta Tavern and Augustine in the Beekman Hotel, opened Cherche Midi in the summer of 2014.

This replaced McNally's Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria, which apparently tripled nearby rents and caused men to urinate in the co-ed sink. Pulino's opened in March 2010.

This would mark the second high-profile restaurant to close on the Bowery and East Houston since last August. Daniel Boulud shut down DBGB Kitchen and Bar after eight years in the Avalon Bowery complex between First Street and Houston.

"In this location, it’s busy on weekends but erratic in the early part of the week," Boulud told The New York Times. And per Eater: "The neighborhood is changing," he said of his decision to close the "very good restaurant."

Both restaurants opened around the time of the start of the East Houston Reconstruction project, which is now just five years behind schedule.



The area in front of DBGB remains torn up, as workers are apparently grappling with underground utility issues...

Please meet the next corner of the Bowery primed for something luxurious

Yesterday, Eater broke the news that a new eatery is in the works at the former Sunshine Hotel Annex on the Bowery at Stanton Street...

Now... it looks as if yet another corner of the Bowery is ready to fall into the hands of luxury ... The space is available immediately at 348-352 Bowery, which is these three properties:



The killer here is the corner of Great Jones... home of the auto repair shop... this business has been doomed for years... just waiting for the day to be swallowed up in the wake of the Varvatos-DBGB-Bowery Hotel luxury invasion... the listing says this 800-square-feet of outdoor space is available... and that restaurants are welcome! But of course!



Some facts from the listing:

neighboring tenants
John Varvatos, Rogan Jeans, Whole Foods Market, DBGB, Gemma, Double Crown, Il Buco, Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria, and Five Points Restaurant

comments
- Nightlife corridor
- Unbeatable 24 hour/seven-day-a-week traffic
- In close proximity to The Bowery Hotel and The Cooper Square Hotel
- Located among some of downtown's best eateries
- Can be combined
- Restaurants welcome

Can we put this one into our McNally Effect folder too? And here's how it all might fit together...



Meanwhile, one of the properties for lease is the former sales office for Village Green, your favorite eco-indulgent condoplex on East 11th Street...Given the apparent success of Village Green... an off-site office may not be necessary...

DBGB doubles up for sidewalk cafe request

DBGB is on the CB3/SLA agenda tonight for a sidewalk cafe...



...and per the sign out front, there's also a public hearing on the matter... conveniently scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at 2...

DBGB signage as pretentious as you'd expect

DBGB opened June 5 on the Bowery... in case you haven't seen the etched signage on the windows of Avalon Bowery Place.






To make matters worse, when I was standing there, one of the etchers yelled, Quel imbécile! Mais qu'est-ce que tu fabriques?

OK, that's not true. But I wish it was!

A reader request: "WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE SIDEWALK SEATING AT DBGB???”

Well! I do take requests! And! It just so happened that I walked by last evening.... and the DBGB sidewalk cafe was up!





Read the previous 10, 11 posts on this topic here.

On the liquor license docket: Hot & Crusty! Superdive! (Again!) DBGB's sidewalk cafe!

Well! The CB3/SLA agenda for August is now online... Eater and the Lo-Down had the early word on several of the more interesting items. (Clearly they hacked into Susan Stetzer's hard drive! ... Kidding!)

Anyway! Here are some of the items of possible interest ... with helpful comments afterwards in italics...

Monday, Aug. 16 at 6:30 pm — JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at Bowery

Renewal with Complaint History
• Cheapshots, 140 1st Ave (op)

Good luck given recent history there.

Sidewalk Cafe Applications
• The Penny Farthing (East County Louth, Inc), 103 3rd Ave

Thought this had already been OK'd...

• DBGB (Bowery Restaurant LLC), 299 Bowery

But of course!

Applications within Resolution Areas
• D Burger Inc, 26 1st Ave (wb)
• D Pizza Inc, 26 1st Ave, Store #2 (wb)

The Rama Cafe space...

Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades
• Kate's Joint, 56-58 Ave B (alt/op/usage of basement as storage/minor kitchen modification)

Storage for what? That Post intern who blew the lid of the fact that underage people sometimes go to bars and drink?

• Habibi Lounge (Zaika Restaurant Corp), 198 Ave A (alt/op)

Still haven't met anyone who has been here...

• Superdive (Rapture Cafe & Books LLC), 200 Ave A (alt/op/kitchen/size & location of bar)

Hahaha...fifth time they've been on the agenda in the past six months...

• East Village Tavern (Brooklyn Bar NYC Inc), 158 Ave C (alt/op/stips/extend hours/add live music)

Live music? Longer hours?

• Corp to be Formed, 200 Ave A (trans/op) (Superdive)

Haha...

New Liquor License Applications
• Stromboli Pizza (Stromboli Pizza Inc), 83 St Marks Pl (wb)

Just noting.

• Dans Le Noir (Dans Le Noir Corp), 107 Norfolk St (op) (Tonic)

Eater has more on what may be coming to the long-dormant Tonic space...

• Corp to be Formed (Alexander Stupak), 101 3rd Ave (op)

Oh, the old Cosmic Cantina space... Eater noted that pastry chef from wd~50 has his name on this ... which probably maybe means -- high-end dessert!

• Hot & Crusty (14th St Bella Pizza Corp), 400 E 14th St (b)

Beer for Hot & Crusty?!

[Image via]

"Entering the East Village come weekends is like wandering into Dante’s Eighth Circle of hell..."

A few East Village-related items from the "Best of Manhattan" issue of NYPress this week...

Best East Village Bar to Get Trashed and Evade the B-and-T Hordes: International Bar
120 1st Ave. betw. St. Marks Pl. & E. 7th St., 212-777-1643
Entering the East Village come weekends is like wandering into Dante’s Eighth Circle of hell, in which hair-sprayed ladies and six-pack men lick, suck and swallow their way into new, louder personalities that we’d like to pop in the mouth. Thank heavens for the neighborhood’s sole refuge, International Bar. In the dark, railroad-car confines, we love plugging metal into the juke and popping a squat at the bar — there’s often a seat, no matter the night. And then we order the combo that’s as deadly as fugu: a can of Schaefer and a two-ounce blast of sweet well whiskey, priced at $4.

Best Headstone for the Corpse of the Bowery: DBGB Kitchen and Bar
299 Bowery at E. 1st St., 212-933-5300
Celebrity chef Daniel Boulud may not be the first inspiration-starved millionaire to burnish up his Bowery project with the memory of punks, but his antiseptic new bistro, DBGB (an awkward pun on CBGB’s,) definitely makes him the No. 1 offender. Standing on the corner of the Bowery and E. First Street, it perfectly embodies the death of the punk rock idyll and the wide cursive script painted around its steel-framed gray windows quite literally gives the restaurant the look of a cemetery — or an up-market option in a Rochester Mall.


Best Bar Idea with the Worst Execution: Superdive
200 Ave. A betw. E. 12th & E. 13th Sts., 212-448-4854
Tableside keg service, democratic access to the soundtrack, mix-your-own cocktails—what could go wrong? In a word, everything. The ideal form of Superdive — which brings what we can only imagine to be the worst of the Midwestern college town drinking experience to the East Village — is bespoilt by human nature. Douchy dudes drink until they get shouty and shovy and play hip-hop ironically at unsafe levels. Mix that with girls who are impressed, and you’ve got a problem.

Does the East Village have enough places now to order hamburgers?

As we pointed out on Friday, Bad Burger (Breakfast All Day), the 24-hour diner, opens today at 171 Avenue A. A variety of burgers are on the comfort-food-heavy menu. Meanwhile, The Burger Shop at 115 St. Mark's Place will be serving hamburgers. (If they haven't done so already.) For something healthier, you can plunk down $15 for a cauliflower almond burger at the newly opened Gingersnap's Organic at 130 Seventh St.

Or, when the mood strikes, there are other choices nearby... like Black Market on Avenue A near Seventh... or Black Iron Burger on East Fifth Street close to Avenue B ... or Whitmans on Ninth Street near First Avenue... or maybe Mark Burger on St. Mark's Place... If you're that way, then you might as well go to Paul's, right? ... of course, I prefer the burgers at Stage. A few other people I know like Blue 9. And Royale. And Zaitzeff. And Bento Burger on Second Street. Which reminds me that I've never been to TallGrass on First Avenue. One person told me that the best burgers in the East Village are at the Hop Devil Grill on St. Mark's. Someone also left a comment once about how good the burgers are at DBGB. Not that I'd go there. Speaking of places that I've never been: The Village Pourhouse and Kool Bloo have burgers. So does Dempsey's on Second Avenue. I've been there. But never had a burger. And I can't forget Korzo Haus on Seventh Street by 7B. Interesting. I also always do things like order burgers at places like Odessa and 7A that aren't necessarily known for their burgers. And did you know that there is a burger place — That Burger — inside Idle Hands and Billy Hurricane's on Avenue B? Someone told me how me he liked them. Actually, I'm forgetting a lot of places. Which makes me think I'll just go to Ray's.

Corner spaces for lease along Houston at Elizabeth and the Bowery

Been meaning to note: A for-lease sign is on the vacant storefront at 73 E. Houston St. at Elizabeth... the former home of Rag & Bone. 

The retailer quietly closed at the start of the year; the men's shop next door on Houston is also shuttered. (This is one of several R&Bs that shut down this year.) 

R&B had been here since 2010... replacing neighborhood favorite Cafe Colonial, whose owner reportedly saw her rent triple following the arrival of nearby neighbor Keith McNally's Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria on the SW corner of Houston and the Bowery. (Part of the feared "McNallification" of the neighborhood.)

Pulino's eventually closed in 2013 ... to make way for McNally's concept Cherche Midi, a French brasserie. That spot ultimately folded in 2018... and the corner has been vacant for nearly five years.

A for-rent sign is now on that space, too (as of a few weeks ago)... only the second time that we recall a listing for the address.

This corridor of the Bowery has been challenging for retail and restaurants... we've seen many concepts come and go quickly... and even name restaurateurs like McNally and Daniel (DBGB!) Boulud haven't had a lasting impact.

How can I really be expected to post today when 78 degrees™ is on the way?

As you probably know, the force of gravity has increased to move the Earth closer to the sun. Or is it the other way around?

No matter!

78 degrees?!

Should we be standing in line for something now? Water? Sunscreen? A sidewalk table at DBGB?

Previously on EV Grieve:
How can I really be expected to post today when the Storm of Feb. 8™ is on the way?

DBGB ready for Old Man Winter and his entourage

Does this mean the sidewalk seating is done for the season?

Meanwhile on the Bowery….

Earlier today… apparently on the way to DBGB….

Photo by Derek Berg

Week in Grieview

[The photogenic 4th and B — back story here]

Posts on EVG this past week included...

RIP Leslie Sternbergh Alexander (Thursday)

The Hells Angels have left the East Village (Tuesday)

1 month in: Basquiat at the Brant Foundation (Friday)

A spirited sendoff for Hattie Hathaway (Wednesday)

Prepping for the Spring Awakening in the neighborhood's community gardens (Thursday)

Q&A with Jake Dobkin, co-founder of Gothamist and author of 'Ask a Native New Yorker' (Friday)

Longtime EV/LES residents Raken Leaves and Julius Klein are marking their almost "40-year interaction" with a two-person exhibition of their art work (Friday)

The building housing the former Sidewalk sells on Avenue A (Wednesday)

Sunshine Cinema-replacing office building moving forward; demolition watch back on (Wednesday)

A future look at the former 650 E. 6th St. (Thursday)

Ride on, Cowboys: Stillwater Bar & Grill closes after 15 years on 4th Street (Monday)

'Lucky 20' opens at the Theater for the New City Art Gallery (Tuesday)

This week's NY See (Monday)

CB3 wants you to attend the MTA Select Bus Service Open House (Friday)

Happy No. 18 Academy Records (Monday)

Last weekend for Jerry's New York Central on 4th Avenue (Saturday)

A reminder that H Mart is coming to 3rd Avenue (Monday)

Report: Irving Plaza closing for 8-month renovation (Wednesday)

Fare deal: The MTA's new digital payment system arrives at Astor Place (Tuesday)

Sage Kitchen opens on the Bowery (Monday)

One Manhattan Square moves to the north (Wednesday)

Blue Bottle Coffee Company coming to Astor Place (Friday)

Jiang Diner now in soft-open mode on 5th Street (Tuesday)

299 Bowery arrives on the rental market 20 months after DBGB closed (Monday)

A quick look at Webster Hall a month before it reopens (Monday)

... and here's an updated look at Webster Hall, now with the Webster Hall on the marquee...



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Foodies are fucked: Momofuko, DBGB, Peels — CLOSED

Oh, Prune appears to be open for brunch.

Steve Cuozzo digs DBGB, the Bowery

From his review in the Post today... which had more to do with the neighborhood than the restaurant:

Most people still perceive the boulevard in discrete sections: the gentrified blocks north of Houston Street; kitchen supply and electrical fixture-heaven below Houston; and Chinatown, south of Delancey.

But there's a cheerful, disheveled continuity here, an exotic ramble not yet homogenized by Duane Reades and bank branches.

Much of the Bowery still looks as it must have 100 years ago: a procession of low-rise, utilitarian structures, keepers of secrets known only to the weathered bricks and mortar. Thanks to the street's unusual width and mostly low-rise scale, it opens up like a time capsule, especially on sunny days.

[Image via Curbed]

What to do with the Vegan Bowery Burger

A friend recently made me aware of the existence of the Vegan Bowery Burger at Whole Foods. (I realize these things aren't new...just new to me.) So, for the sake of investigative journalism, I went over to Whole Foods on Houston and Bowery to check them out. (And are these just specific to this location? Are there, say, Union Square Burgers at the 14th Street location.) To my good fortune, they were in stock at the deli counter. They go for $7.99 a pound. I've never ordered veggie burgers by the pound. So I asked for three. To my amazement, they came to $7.99. (So next time someone asks me how much a pound weighs...)



I'm not much of a foodie. The burgers tasted pretty good (couldn't even detect the mustard powder), though I recommend that you eat them with heaping piles of cheese and bacon.

Now! To more important matters. How to market the Vegan Bowery Burger!

First! We need some 1970s-style Bowery street cred... Gabba gabba yum!



...some hotties in Bowery wear... Let me see that fake beef!



We have your Vegan Bowery Burger bitches!



And a celebrity spokesperson....

Beep, beep! Delivery for Mr. Moby!



Then we'll raise the price to $17.99 a pound. See you at DBGB, suckers!