Reminders tonight: Meet the owner of 34 Avenue A

As reported, Jevan Damadian wants to meet neighbors tonight to discuss his plans for 34 Avenue A. Thanks to the EV Grieve reader for snapping the new signage in the window...

Previously on EV Grieve:
New owner of the former Aces and Eights space speaks out; "the beer pong is gone"

New owner of the Aces and Eights space wants to "meet the approval of the community"

And be sure to read The Lo-Down's interview with Jevan for the background on how he got where he is today....

CB3 to Aces & Eights: Where's the food? Why so many TVs? And what's up with the beer pong?

Eater has highlights from last night's CB3 SLA Licensing Committee meeting. Among the East Village highlights: Aces & Eights, the new frathole on Avenue A in the former Mo Pitkin's space, is not making many friends.

A number of EVill oldtimers stood up to complain about noise, while the CB members questioned the lack of food in the restaurant, the 13 TVs (they were allowed to have only two), and the advertisements for drinking games. In his defense the owner said food was on the way — though we think it's safe to assume he means wings, nachos, and bar snacks — and that beer pong should not be equated with binge drinking, "It's one pitcher divided into 16 cups!" The peanut gallery had a good laugh, and the committee decided to write a letter to the SLA.

Previous Aces & Eights coverage on EV Grieve is here.

Because you want to know more about the plans for 34 Avenue A

Rebecca Marx talked with Todd P. at Fork in the Road last evening... and he shared more about plans for 34 Avenue A:

Patrick says that he and his co-partners (who also include Mo's/Two Boots owner Phil Hartman and Mike House, an architect whose projects include work on Santos Party House) all want to create a venue that "reflects and serves the surrounding community. No one wants this neighborhood to be this gauntlet of bars where you can get Jell-O shots. We are very happy to remove that stain [of Aces & Eights], but at the same time, no one wants more overpriced boutique restaurants."

The new space will have a ground-floor restaurant which, Patrick says, "will be the main revenue source and the main face of the business." Its menu will be seafood-based "Pacific Coast-style Mexican cuisine" (Pacific as in Jalisco, not California) and its atmosphere "casual yet fairly sophisticated as well. We envision high-quality and not bargain-base priced cuisine, but also not prices that price out the average individual."

And!

As for the performance part of the equation, Patrick stresses that "this is not an indie club, not a rock club, and certainly not a dance club." Instead, it will be purely avant-garde. "Our feeling is that it's a genre that really needs to be represented in the city," he says. "Both the Stone and Issue Project Room are great, but they're maybe more of a museum setting than we would like to be. I have a great respect for those things, but you're seeing kind of a presentation of something rather than it being a little more free form."

(DNAinfo also has more on the space here.)

The comment box is awaiting.

As EV Grieve first reported last Friday:
Phil Hartman bringing a 'performance venue' back to former Mo Pitkin's space

And Monday:
[Updated] Bringing 'the tradition of the old Knitting Factory and Tonic' to 34 Avenue A

34 Avenue A is for sale

34 Avenue A has just hit the market. Living Real Estate Group has the property listing. Via Streeteasy:

Own a piece of East Village History!! Originally home to the famous live music venue Mo Pitkins, this is a rare opportunity for a user or investor to acquire a unique mixed use 4 story walk up building in the heart of the East Village. The property is newly renovated and has a vacant ground and 2nd floor retail space with full basement. The ground floor is built out as a restaurant with full kitchen and appliances and storage in the usable basement. The 2nd floor was previously duplexed with the first floor and has a large open space with a bar and private lounge area. The 3rd floor (currently leased mo mo) is a floor through 1425 sqft live/work space with exposed brick, high ceilings and newly renovated kitchen and large floor to ceilings windows. This unit could also be transformed into a 2 bed 1.5 bath apartment. The top floor is a duplex penthouse with 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, brand new kitchen and 2 very large private outdoor spaces. This is a Unique Building loaded with charm and character including exposed brick, high original tin ceilings, large windows, multi levels and large lofty spaces throughout.

Price: $4.65 million.

CB3 has rejected recent plans — including a group featuring Phil Hartman of Two Boots — to turn this space back into a performance venue after its turn as Aces & Eights.

As the Observer reported in November 2008, 34 Avenue A was sold to an entity called LAMNG Corporation for $4 million. The building had been on the market for more than a year, with an initial listing price of $5.5 million.

On May 16, an unknown group will make another pitch for the space before the CB3/SLA committee.

The sad last few weeks of Pete Wentz's former hotspot Angels & Kings

[Former East Village bar owner Pete Wentz]

We noted yesterday that 7-Eleven (and maybe some other franchise?) was taking over the space previously held by Bar on A at 170 Avenue A and the adjacent Angels & Kings at 500 E. 11th St.

Aces & Eights Angels & Kings quietly closed in late April... a fact that no one reported on for several weeks.

Quite a contrast to when Angels & Kings swaggered onto the scene in the spring of 2007 with the requisite UrbanDaddy d-baggery:

Launched in part as a hangout for the members of Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is... and Gym Class Heroes, Angels and Kings — or AK-47, as the kids are calling it — is your chance to sip a cheap bottle of beer and chat up attractive TRL aficionadas.

To no surprise, that premise eventually fizzled. And it maintained its status as yet another bar to avoid in the neighborhood, the kind of place Yelpers grumbled about because of "hearing some d-bag nyu student show off his AWFUL rendition of 'The Humpty Dance,' or watching this Finnish girl sing 'Mambo No. 5.'" And don't forget the beer pong tourneys!

By last fall, the space was being used to show Penn State football games on Saturday afternoons (and the Steelers on Sundays!).

In January, the CB3/SLA gave the OK for the people behind Keybar on East 13th Street to take over the Angels & Kings space and open a bar-restaurant serving Hungarian food. We never heard what happened to those plans.

This past summer, we noticed that the building's super started using the entryway to store trash and recyclables...

And people took notice that this was a good space for trash.

Anyway, the space is now in plywood hell, resigned to another life of suburbia hell, this time as a 7-Eleven.

Hi neighbor: Is this a new era for bar-resident relations in the East Village?

What happened with the Cabin Down Below management and the family next door is the latest example of East Village bar owners trying to be better neighbors...

1) David Schwartz, one of Lit's co-owners, recently outlined the steps his bar is taking to appease their unhappy neighbors. (Read that story here.)



2) The manager of the Elephant on First Street recently told me what she had done to help change perceptions neighbors may have of the Thai eatery. (Read that post here.)

3) In response to an exchange with EV Grieve readers, the GM of Aces & Eights made good on trying to dispel the bar’s Upper-East-Side, preppy reputation by hosting an art show by Curt Hoppe. (You can read that story here.)

4) Last summer, Destination's Mason Reese was the only owner who attended a meeting of residents on 12th and 13th Streets to address issues people were having with the proliferation of new bars on Avenue A. He agreed to close the bar's front windows by 10 p.m. during the week and 11 p.m. on the weekends. (And Reese recently chimed in on a comment thread to remind folks that he has kept his word.)

Maybe this is all for a good reason. Monday night's CB3/SLA meeting showed what can happen when neighbors get organized and work together... As Jill reported:

Tonight's Community Board 3 SLA Committee meeting was possibly historic. The Upper Avenue A residents had such a strong turnout ... The end result, which is often a testament to stamina more than brains, was that nobody got their license approvals tonight, and one of the three bars withdrew their application in the face of so much opposition.

I'm sure there are other bar owners who continue to be good neighbors... (and others who are anything but!) Still! Is this a New Era for Neighborly Love? Do bar owners realize that it might be a good idea to actually cater to people who walk a block or so to the establishment and not travel here on, say, the LIRR? I think back to those ugly, drag-out fights involving the people vs. Le Souk, Death & Company, among others.

As the Cabin Down Below neighbor said, it took a few phone calls, a little waiting... and one evening a bar owner is in the apartment to hear for herself what the noise is like while a contractor was outside on the stairs.

I just don't know if bar owners (and prospective bar owners) are just being smart... or they're scared.

Breaking! (former) Aces and Eights has reopened

Via a message from new GM Jamie-Lynn Argent:

"We're open again! With proper paperwork! Yay!"

And she adds in the comments: "We are still re-branding and re-naming! The contest runs until Oct 1st. Also feel free to stop by anytime and talk to me."

Above photo taken just after 5 today...

Previously.

Former Aces and Eights closed for good

That's the word anyway on the street... Saturday was supposedly the last night for Aces & Eights, according to a source...and the bar was closed on Sunday night around 10, when this photo was taken....

We'll have to wait longer to find out about plans for 34 Avenue A

34 Avenue A was one of the most intriguing items on tonight's CB3/SLA docket. In March, the committee rejected the proposal to turn the former Aces and Eights space back into a performance venue.

No name was on the appliacation for the space in May, simply: "To Be Determined, 34 Ave A (op)"

In any event, we'll have to wait longer to find out about the plans for the space: 34 Avenue A is a scratch for tonight.

Meanwhile, one other item of interest: 200 Avenue A, the art gallery with a full liquor license. In previous posts on this the gallery, several readers claimed that they were misled when it came to sign a petition of approval for the plans.

For instance, per Cat Sitter in the City:

I wish I could take my signature off that Superdive/now we're an art gallery petition I signed. It really bugs me that the girls were telling me they were creating an art gallery. I had no idea it was an art gallery with a liquor license, and I wonder if they duped others in the same way.

And!

Anonymous said...
Oh, great. I signed their petition. They said it was going to be an art gallery. They were two nice girls who didn't say anything about booze. I feel like I was hoodwinked.

Seems like old times, except older: 34 Avenue A and 200 Avenue A back on the SLA docket

The folks at CB3 have posted the May meeting schedule, including the docket for the SLA licensing committee... Lots of action again this time around... First, the meeting place and time: SLA & DCA Licensing Committee, Monday, May 16 at 6:30 pm — JASA/Green Residence, 200 East 5th Street at Bowery

A few highlights. (The whole caboodle is here.)

Applications within Resolution Areas

• To Be Determined, 34 Ave A (op)

We're not sure just yet who is looking at trying to revive the former Mo Pitkin's/Aces & Eights space this time around... the same crew with their "performance venue"? A new crew! We'll find out...

• Solo Pizza (Solo Pizza Inc), 27 Ave B (wb)

• Ave B Caffe Buon Gusto Inc., 545 E 5th St (aka 76 Ave B) (wb)

[Whistling....]

• Paradiso (Paradiso NY LLC), 105 Ave B (wb)

This is the cafe/coffee shop near Seventh St.

• Boxcar Lounge (Oops of New York Inc), 168 Ave B (op)

• Bat Yam Food Services Inc, 97 St. Mark’s Pl (wb)

• To be determined, 14 Ave. B (op)

Well! At one point, various people were going to combine 14-16 Avenue B at Second Street for some massive club bar-restaurant with mama from the old country cooking, etc. However, CB3/SLA always shot down those plans ... and now Discovery Wines is taking the space at 16 Avenue B. And now someone is giving the smaller space at 14 a whirl...

Sidewalk Café Applications

• 26 Seats (Paris Cuisine Inc.), 168 Ave B

• Peels Restaurant (325 Bowery Restaurant LLC), 325 Bowery

• Cacio & Pepe (Peprico Inc.), 182 2nd Ave

Just realized that I've never eater here.

Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades

• To be Determined (Not A Bookstore LLC), 200 Ave A (trans/op) (Superdive)

The art gallery with a full liquor license is back. Last month, the committee told them to do more (and better!) community outreach.



• To Be Determined (Epicurean Management), 11 E 1st St (trans/op) (Bowery Wine)

Something new in store for the Bowery Wine Company? A quick flashback to the BWC protest in 2008.

• To be Determined, 500 E 11th St (trans/op) (Angels & Kings)

Another reject from last meeting. The committee told them to do more (and better!) community outreach.

• Hop Devil Grill, 125-129 St. Marks Pl (trans/op)

• To Be Determined (Evir Corp), 117 Second Ave (trans/wb)

Dunno what's going on here... this is now 7.2 at the corner of Seventh Street... onetime home of the Kiev...

New Liquor License Applications

• Led Zeppole (Arti Restaurant & Catering Group), 328 E 14th St (wb)

• The Toucan & The Lion (Type A Goods LLC), 342 E 6th St (op)

What's with the names these days? And this is the entity taking over the Mara's Homemade space.

'Open clubhouse' at Ruff Club this weekend

From the EV Grieve inbox ... from East Village resident Danny Frost, who's opening the Ruff Club at 34 Avenue A... dubbed "a social club for dogs."

We're having "Open Clubhouse" events today and tomorrow from 11am-4pm. Folks can stop in for a coffee and tour our space, meet our staff, and apply in-person for membership.

We'll likely do a couple more of these ...After tomorrow, for the next couple of weeks we'll be open only for events and temperament screening appointments.

After the holidays, our daycare (off-leash play areas) and social club (the dog-friendly space with coffee and wifi in the front — picture the front bar room at Mo Pitkins / Aces & Eights with the bar intact but with a lending library instead of alcohol) — will be open 7am to 9pm weekdays, and we are still working out the exact weekend schedule. Boarding will be available 24/7/365.

Here's their website.

Week in Grieview

We learned more about Grace Farrell (Tuesday)

CB3 passed new liquor license legislation (Thursday)

Coyote Ugly reopened (Wednesday)

We talked about "Hot Chicks" (Monday)

We learned that the recession is over! (Wednesday)

We continued to worry about the Mars Bar (Friday)

There was a candlelight vigil at 35 Cooper Square (Tuesday) where the developer now apparently has all the necessary permits to destroy (Friday)

We saw the new Material Girl ads shot at Lit Lounge and Mars Bar (Thursday)

We looked at the March CB3/SLA docket, which includes a music venue for the former Aces and Eights(?) (Wednesday)

We watched the EV(ie) Hawk eat a rat (Thursday)

We mourned for Orologio, or at least some people did (Friday)

What is taking over the Superdive space

The owner of the former Aces and Eights space at 34 Avenue A isn't the only person reaching out to the neighborhood.

Signs are up now at the Superdive space. The new owners of the space are on this month's CB3/SLA docket.




As you can see, the new owners want to meet the neighborhood tonight — with promises of cider and pastries. I sent Han Kao an e-mail Saturday morning asking for more details on what people can expect here, though he didn't respond.

However, a neighborhood power broker tells me the new owners are thinking something nouveau American cuisiney but aren't going to commit to anything until they meet with the neighborhood. The resident says while the new owners sound friendly enough, nearby neighbors would love a business that doesn't require a liquor license. One resident along Avenue A asked, "Why can't the landlord bring in a Yoga/Meditation center with a juice bar?" Noted another neighbor: "Great idea. Wrong lifetime."

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Avenue A...

Holy Keg Stand! Eater reports that Superdive has reopened!

This and the former Aces and Eights on the same day....?

[File photo]

New listing for 34 Avenue A

Back in August, 34 Avenue A hit the market as a rental via Coldwell Banker Commercial ...

Of course, there's a long recent history here, from Mo Pitkin's to Ace & Eights to a CB3 smackdown.

Anyway, there's now a new listing at Living New York ...

Here are the details:

Full Built out Turnkey Restaurant for Lease/Sale - Prime East Village Avenue A Location!
34 Avenue A between 2nd and 3rd Street

Originally the Famous Mo Pitkins Performance Space Venue!

Fully Built out Turnkey opportunity for a unique, cool space.

Fully built 1 or 2- story restaurant space available leased together or separately.
3000 Sqft + 1500 basement. Loaded with charm and character this space features high original tin ceilings, exposed brick, floor to ceiling windows and plenty of natural light..

Ground Floor - 1,500 Sqft + full 1500 sqft Basement built out as a bar/ restaurant with banquet seating and full kitchen including commercial appliances, beer taps, walk ins, security system, Ice maker, etc…
$15,000/mo

2nd floor 1,500 Sqft Large open space with platform for performance use, Large Bar and glassed in front Lounge area.
$7,500 /mo

Total Rent $22,500/mo
Key money $250,000

Or you can just buy the whole fucking building. That possibility is mentioned at the bottom of the listing. No details on the price. Living had it at $4.65 million back in May.

Regardless, securing a liquor license will be a challenge.

As Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo reported back in August about the rental:

“We don’t think you can get a liquor license at this point because of so much negative history,” said Debra Stelnik, a broker for Coldwell Banker, noting her client is growing desperate to bring in a new tenant.

In any event, it has been awhile since we've been inside the place... and Living New York has some photos...

Looks like someone from Aces & Eights left behind the Jäger machine!

Aces & Eights now serving food

During the May 11 CB3 SLA Licensing Committee meeting, Aces & Eights, the frathole on Avenue A in the former Mo Pitkin's space, heard it from residents and CB3 members. As Eater reported:

A number of EVill oldtimers stood up to complain about noise, while the CB members questioned the lack of food in the restaurant, the 13 TVs (they were allowed to have only two), and the advertisements for drinking games. In his defense the owner said food was on the way — though we think it's safe to assume he means wings, nachos, and bar snacks — and that beer pong should not be equated with binge drinking, "It's one pitcher divided into 16 cups!" The peanut gallery had a good laugh, and the committee decided to write a letter to the SLA.

Anyway, that food has arrived. Per the menu now on the front window:

The Bruce High Quality Foundation University settles in on Avenue A

Been meaning to note this. You may have noticed the signage — BHQFU — on the third floor at 34 Avenue A near East Third Street...

The space is serving as home to The Bruce High Quality Foundation University (BHQFU), "a learning experiment where artists work together to manifest creative, productive, resistant, useless, and demanding interactions between art and the world."

Here's more via an article last fall in the GalleristNY, which describes BHQFU as "the mostly anonymous artist collective founded by a group of Cooper Union alumni." The unaccredited art school started in 2009 on West Broadway as a response to the "$200,000-debt-model of art education."


[The third-floor classroom, via Facebook]

Spring sessions on Avenue A include "You Watching Me Googling You." Find the school's website here.

And so, for now, this closes the book on 34 Avenue A, home to some angry-neighbor angst in recent years... from the closure of Mo Pitkin's ... to the opening and closing of flip-cup mecca Aces & Eights ... to CB3 rejecting all plans for a bar-restaurant-performance space here.

Today, the building is home to Ruff Club, a dog-friendly social club, a karate center and an artist collective.

Progress?

On the CB3/SLA June docket: Beer and wine for Ninth Street Espresso (on 10th Street)

We'll have more about the June CB3/SLA docket later... (the meeting is June 18) ...

Here are a few notable items:

Sidewalk Café Application
• Starbucks Coffee (Starbucks Corp), 145 2nd Ave

Don't think this is for alcohol ... just getting their paperwork back in order for the sidewalk cafe that the city shuttered ...

Applications within Resolution Areas
• To be Determined, 34 Ave A (wb)

The mystery applicants for the former Aces & Eights space are back. Third month in a row that they've appeared on the docket. The new applicants have pulled out of the last two meetings.

New Liquor License Applications
• Nevada Smiths (92 Nuns Walk Inc), 100 3rd Ave (op)

Getting ready to settle into their new home.

• Ninth Street Expresso (Higher Grounds Café Inc), 343 E 10th St (wb)

As Scoopy first reported at The Villager, Ninth Street Espresso on East 10th Street is moving next door into half of the former Life Cafe space... and this move looks as if it will include a beer-wine list.

Also... mystery applicants for the former Hea/Friend House space on Third Avenue at 13th Street... and the Mercadito Cantina on Avenue B... and something new for Bar on A, which had been for sale...

April's CB3/SLA meeting: Mystery applicants for 8 Extra Place, Nice Guy Eddie's and 34 Avenue A (again)

[34 Avenue A]

Here we go. (Didn't we just do this?)

SLA & DCA Licensing Committee
Monday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. — JASA/Green Residence, 200 East Fifth Street at the Bowery...

At this point, we don't know a lot about some of the new applicants just yet... Have a tip about any of these? Please let us know via the EV Grieve email ...

So. Here are a few items of interest... (find the full rundown here...)

Renewal with Complaint History
• Pyramid Club (Moonwalkers Restaurant Corp), 101 Ave A (op)

Corporate Change with Complaint History
• Ugly Kitchen, 103 1st Ave (op)

Sidewalk Café Application
• Gelato Ti Amo (Quality Edibles LLC), 68 2nd Ave (unenclosed)

The new gelato place that we pointed out near East Fourth Street.

• Veselka Bowery LLC, 9 E 1st St (unenclosed)

Don't they already have a sidewalk cafe?

Applications within Resolution Areas
• To be Determined / The Great Life Hospitality Group LLC, 34 Ave A (wb)

Here we go again with this space, seemingly doomed to any applicant since Aces & Eights held the liquor license... As you probably know, CB3 has rejected all the recent plans for a bar-restaurant-performance space here. Will this be any different? The applicant is only vying for beer and wine...

• Ellsfred Inc, 520 E 6th St (op)

The owners of Mona's and Sophie's hope to take over this space. See this post for details.

• Liberty Head Tavern, 116 Ave C (op)

• Downtown Dining LLC, 5 Ave A (op)

5 Avenue A is the address for Nice Guy Eddie's. Does this mean the place is closing? Anyone? (As far as we know, CB3 member Dave McWater is still involved with the current ownership.)

Meanwhile, would the new ownership paint over the mural here...?

[Via Eater]

• San Matteo Panuozzeria E Birra (San Matteo Panuozzeria Inc), 127 St Marks Pl (b)

That new panuozzo place that opened in the old crepe joint near Avenue A.

• Yong Fa Restaurant Inc, 507 E 6th St (wb)

Held over from last month. This is the former 6th Street Kitchen space, which never reopened after that awful fire in Janaury 2011. The space had been for rent.

• Babel, 129 Ave C (op)

Alterations
• The Standard East Village (Cooper AB LLC), 25-33 Cooper Sq (op/close 2nd floor bar terrace/new outdoor space on north/alter hours/other alts)

Wait — "new outdoor space on north" ... the north side of the building? That would be the former 35 Cooper Square site...

New Liquor License Applications

• To be Determined, 90 3rd Ave (op)

This was last Montein Thai Cuisine near 12th Street... the DOH closed them in January 2011, and they never reopened. Others have tried to give this place a whirl...

• Tara Thai Cuisine, 137 1st Ave (wb)

• The Northern Spy Food Company (The Northern Spy Food Co LLC), 511 E 12th St (op/upgrade)

• Extra Place (Extra Place America LLC), 8 Extra Pl (wb)

Heard a few rumors what was going in here... nothing worth repeating just yet...

• Sake Bar Satsko (Aw Creative Associates LLC), 202 E 7th St (wb)

• Raclette (New York Raclette LLC), 508 E 12th St (wb)

Something cooking for the former Jubb's Longevity space...

• Raasa (Mumbai New York Corp), 328 E 6th St (wb)

• MR Restaurant Holding Corp, 320 E 6th St (wb)

• Porchetta LLC, 110 E 7th St (wb)

• Golden Cadillac, 500 E 11th St (op)

They tried for the Mug Lounge space back in the fall (to no avail) ... now they're angling for the Angels & Kings space... where we thought Keybar was headed after January's meeting... Difficult to keep track of bars that we've never been to before...

------------
b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations |up=upgrades

3 Awful Avenue A bars: What are they now?

A few days ago we noticed that the sign went up for Ethos Meze, the new Greek restaurant opening this year at 167 Avenue A…




While the previous tenant here, Diablo Royale Este, has been closed for more than 18 months… the new sign is symbolic of sorts… an end of an era where three bars on Avenue A drew the ire of neighbors for the beer ponging, party busing, sidewalk peeing ways of its patrons...

-----


[September 2011]

From May 2010 to August 2012, Diablo Royale Este, which claimed it catered "to a mature audience," was popular with the party bus crowd … and, most famously, once hosted (unwittingly or not) a Boats 'N Hoes party for NYU students.

Diablo Royale Este eventually closed after some ongoing issues with the State Liquor Department.

-----

Then, at 200 Avenue A, there was Superdive.

Oh, the legendary Superdive, which started its reign of woorrorism with table-service kegs in June 2009… and remained open intermittently until October 2010… (Superdive threatened to return too many times… it was like trying to kill Jason Voorhees… )


[The glory days of 2009 via Meri Micara]

There was a midget dressed as a pirate working Champagne Tuesdays… Bargoers were encouraged to mix their own drinks… oh, lordy. We're just going to stop.

Today, the space is home to the ABC Animal Hospital.



-----

… and at 34 Avenue A, there was Aces & Eights, which arrived in March 2009 … residents quickly branded the place a beer-ponging frathole …


But, to the bar's credit, the general manager did try to make some changes, reaching out to EVG readers for input … and even making good use of the upstairs space for a cool art show…

The bar closed for good in October 2010.

The space is now home to Ruff Club, "a social club for dogs."