Southern Cross Coffee has closed on 5th Street

[Photo by EVG reader Sheila Meyer]

You may have noticed the for-rent sign that recently arrived in the front window of Southern Cross Coffee at 300 E. Fifth St. near Second Avenue.

Obviously not a good sign... and after service on Monday, the Australian-Argentinian coffee shop closed ... the owners left a note of thanks for patrons...



No word on why Southern Cross Coffee, named in honor of the Southern Cross constellation, decided to close.

As noted before, this is a coffee-rich zone with numerous nearby choices, including (but not limited to!) the Coffee Project on Fifth Street just off the Avenue... the new 787 Coffee on Second Avenue at Sixth Street, Cafe Mocha on Second Avenue and Seventh Street, the Bean on Second Avenue and Third Street, Kona Coffee and Company on Second Avenue between Third Street and Fourth Street, and Porto Rico Importing Co. on St. Mark's just east of Second Avenue ... and Spiritea opened in May a few storefronts away on the corner.

Southern Cross debuted in February 2017 in these newly renovated storefronts. Jamie the check-cashing guy previously worked from this space before the renovations.

Openings: A10 Kitchen on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

A10 Kitchen debuted on Tuesday at 162 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street... (we mentioned the restaurant seeking a liquor license back in February.)

Owner Enkeleda Kelmendi (below left) was all set for a March 15 grand opening... 

You can find the menu, featuring bistro fare — salads, sandwiches and main dishes such as steak frites and halibut — at the A10 website. You can find their Instagram account here. A10 is open daily from noon to 10 p.m.

Flinders Lane closed here in August 2018 after five-plus years in service. Before the Australian restaurant, this space was The Beagle ... and Orologio before that.

Sad Pie Face?

[Photo yesterday by Derek Berg]

The Pie Face on Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street was suspiciously not open this past weekend.

Several tipsters said the place had closed for good. A look inside yesterday showed a whole lot of inactivity. (Eater noted this yesterday.)

This outlet of the Australian chain, which specializes in mini meat pies with smiley faces on them, opened here last fall after extensive renovations of the former Brothers Deli.

Flinders Lane opening today on Avenue A

The Beagle, the craft cocktail bar at 162 Avenue A, closed back in October … signage arrived last week for the restaurant taking the space — Flinders Lane.

Here's a description of the restaurant via Facebook:

Flinders Lane is an Australian inspired eating and drinking house focused on offering a boutique selection of domestic and international wines, fresh seasonal cocktails and a creative small plate food selection.

After a few previews for friend and family, the restaurant opens tonight, and the owners had this to say about it on Facebook:

So this is it! We just want to say after 4 years of collaboration over late night Chinese and gimlets I'm proud to say that Monday the 3rd Feb is a red letter day - to realize a dream with a mate. A massive thank you to all that have helped us realize this dream.

There are some photos of the interior on Facebook… such as this one:



You can find their menu here.

Freaks to the front

 

Australian punks Amyl and the Sniffers released this live video clip this week from a recent show... a good preview of what to expect when they play Terminal 5 on West 56th Street next Friday night... in support of their most recent release, Comfort to Me.

Tuck Shop is closing after 13 years on 1st Street

[Photo of Niall Grant from 2016 by James Maher]

Niall Grant, the owner of Tuck Shop on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, told me last evening that he is closing the business here at the end of service next Tuesday, Sept. 25 after 13 years selling Australian meat and vegetable pies on the block.

The other two Tuck Shop locations, in Chelsea Market and Urbanspace, will shut down by the end of the month.

Here's part of an email that Grant shared:

All the usual reasons can be cited but rising costs in general are behind this difficult decision. After 13 years in business I am tired of the struggle to keep a small business afloat in NYC.

My chief concern is finding jobs for my excellent kitchen team who have been with me for many many years including our head chef Pedro who has been with Tuck Shop since the very start, sous chef Juan (9 years) and prep cook Andras (7 years). They're a wonderful team so if anybody out there has a job for any of them please email tuckshopfirststreet@gmail.com.

I'd also like to thank all the folks who have worked for Tuck Shop over the years. I've made some lifelong friends and had lots of laughs with the staff. I wish you all well in your endeavors.

Finally I'd like to thank all the customers and regulars who supported Tuck Shop since 2005. I really appreciate what you've all done for me and my staff. You've allowed us to prosper, fed our families and paid our rents. We really appreciate it. Please come by the stores and say goodbye as we will miss you all greatly.

Thanks again,
Niall and the whole Tuck Shop family!

Here's part of our Out and About feature with Grant from February 2016:

I love this street. After 11 years here, I know everybody’s face. There are still a lot of the same old faces. All these guys hang out in front of the place. Some have been here for maybe 30 years. You see people grow up. It’s great to be part of a community like that. It’s nice seeing the whole family grow up upstairs.

Michael Huynh's alphabet guessing game on St. Mark's Place

Well! Finally a clue at the former Australian Homemade ice cream/candy shop on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A...

As Eater reported, Michael Huynh, who's opening 1,784 eateries this year, took over this space. "When asked whether or not that would be the location of his future Asian-Taco joint, Huynh said he wasn't sure, that he has three leases on St. Mark's Place to play with ... However, if he does put the tacos here, he's considering calling it Baorrito. May we also suggest South of the Baoder? Taco Bao?"

So, here's what went up last Friday...





Feel free to guess what DOB stands for... I'm going with Department of Buildings.

Under wraps: Work starts on two high-profile new East Village eateries

First, at the former Australian Homemade ice cream/candy shop on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A ... where, as Eater reported, Michael Huyh may or may not open his Asian-Taco joint called Baorrito here... In any event, Huyn is opening something here...



Meanwhile, on the Bowery and Second Street, at the former Kelley & Ping space... As Fork in the Road noted, Taavo Somer and his Freemans crew are opening a "classic American diner" here. Per the Voice from the Nov. 16 CB3/SLA meeting: "Somer plans to fully utilize the bi-level space, creating a 63-seat restaurant with a 38-foot counter on the first floor and a 19-foot bar on the second. His application met with a show of support from members of the community, who bemoaned the current state of the abandoned restaurant, which has become a haven for drug deals and muggings."

Sniff 'n' the Beers

Amyl and the Sniffers released a new video this week... a live version of "I'm Not a Loser," which showcases lead singer Amy Taylor's energetic stage presence... look for the Australian band's full-length debut in the New Year on Flightless/ATO/Rough Trade Records.

Looking at the slim August CB3/SLA agenda: Heathers up for renewal; Plump Dumpling wants beer and wine

The CB3/SLA docket is now live... and it's pretty lean — 16 items in all.

And, for people curious about a new place from Mars Bar owner Hank Penza, there's nothing on this agenda that fits that description ...

The meeting is next Monday at 6:30 pm — JASA/Green Residence - 200 East 5th Street at Bowery

And now a few of the items of interest:

Renewals with complaints
• Heathers, (Ariel, Inc) 506 E 13 st (op)

Heathers went before the CB3/SLA committee in September 2009 ... and there was a lengthy discussion. The Times checked in with a lengthy article in January 2007 about the ongoing noise issues between the bar and neighbors.

Owner Heather Millstone opened Veronica People's Club in Greenpoint last summer.

Applications within Resolution Areas
• St. Marks Red House, TDD & G LLC, 126 St Marks Pl (wb)

The former Why? Curry space ... now Lychee... soon to be called The East Village Red House. We'll have more on this one later.

Alterations/Upgrades
• Preserve 24 (Aegis Holding Houston LLC), 175-177 E. Houston St (alt/op)

• BOP (Peels) Radley Realty Corp, 325 Bowery (alt,reorg)

New Liquor License Applications
• Plump Dumpling (Big Dumpling Corp), 174 2nd Ave (op)

The Plumpsters, who brought in Yummy House, are looking to serve alcohol ...

• Basketball City, Ark Basketball City Corp, Pier 36 at 299 South St (op)

Wow. This one will whip up some drama. This is the former Office of Emergency Management ... The Lo-Down has background on this controversial rec center...

• TBD, Asian Chef Express Inc, 96 3rd Ave (wb)

• TBD, Ichibantei LLC, 401 E 13th St (wb)

This is the the eatery that serves a range of Japanese "soul food" just east off First Avenue ...

• Hot Kitchen (Hot Kitchen Inc ), 104 2nd Ave (wb)

This is the former Matsukado ... that closed six months after taking over the old Baluchi's space ... Hot Kitchen? Perhaps this will be the "modern Australian" place from Morgan McGlone, the former private chef and caterer on the Upper East Side?

• Quality Meats Downtown (Mozzarella Sticks LLC), 199 Bowery (op)

BoweryBoogie has the scoop on what's in the works for this place.

Tuck Shop closes St. Mark's Place location

The Tuck Shop closed its location for good on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A last night. The locations on East First Street and in the Chelsea Market remain open.

According to the sign on the door, "we decided to close this location for myriad reasons" ... which include:

Surf's Up!
Real-Estate Taxes (my personal fav)
Gentrification
The booze
Sandy (of course)
Rent is too damn high!
Laziness/ennui
Albany/Bloomberg
Gluten-free people

The Australian restaurant opened this location in the summer of 2009.

From April...


[Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.]

These are apparently the participating bars in SantaCon 2014

SantaCon organizers plan to release this year's pub crawl route this evening.

Ahead of that, a curious East Village resident downloaded the official Santacon app that they are now advertising on their website.

The resident found that the participating bars are in the Midtown West/Murray Hill region: Pacha, Beer Authority, Houndstooth, Tempest, The Thirsty Fan, Slake, Red Room, Vivid Caberet, American Whiskey, Blarney Rock, The Australian, Stout, The Keg Room NYC, Feile, Blaggards, Reichenbach Beer Hall, Butterfield 8, Mustang Harry's, The Liberty, Suite 36, Mustang Sally's, Playwright Irish Pub, Galway Pub, Rick's Cabaret, Slattery's, Pioneers Bar, Jack Dempsey's, Foley's, Maru Karoke Lounge, Rattle 'n Hum, Nelly Spillane's, IchiUmi, Joshua Tree, 230 Fifth Avenue Rooftop & Lounge.

The pre-party starts at Pacha on West 46th Street.

The SantaCon website also notes that they are scaling back this year's festivities:

Due to the planned protests on Saturday, Santacon is scaling back this weekend's festivities in order to create the lowest possible impact on the city we love while still maintaining our glorious traditions this holiday season.

Santacon has respect and compassion for the hard-working municipal organizations of NYC, as well as for the important civil rights demonstrations currently shaping our city’s future. Thus, we are changing the format of this year’s Santacon.

This evening, all participating Santacon bars and venues will be announced on nycsantacon.com. Their halls will be decked, and they’ll be ready and waiting for Santa to come down their chimneys. PLEASE PATRONIZE THESE VENUES ONLY. If a venue isn’t on this list, it’s because they don’t want you there. Please move around throughout the day from venue to venue but spend most of your time inside, not on the streets.

Finally, it’s more important this year than ever to pace yourself, watch out for your elves, and stay safe. Fighting, public urination, and vandalism are unacceptable and a great way to ensure that there will be no Santacon in 2015. #DontScroogeSantacon

Meanwhile, the Village Pourhouse on Third Avenue and East 11th Street is still pretending to be an official SantaCon stop…

Goodbye Sudan

[Photo from Saturday]

Sudan, the world's last surviving male northern white rhino, died last night after months of poor health, according to published reports.

Per the BBC: Sudan, who was 45, lived at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. He was put to sleep on Monday after age-related complications worsened significantly.

Sudan is one of the three rhinos currently memorialized on Astor Place. Last Thursday, Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner unveiled their 17-foot bronze sculpture "The Last Three."

The Schattners recreated the world's last three northern white rhinos – Sudan, Najin, and Fatu – "to inspire, educate and mobilize the global community to raise their voices and affect real change against illegal rhino poaching trade."

The artists are hoping to collect 1 million messages worldwide to "put them toward a petition for approaching governments about eliminating the demand for rhino horns through education."

The sculpture will remain here through May. You can read more about the project here.

A post shared by Astor Place NYC (@astorplacenyc) on Mar 20, 2018 at 1:56pm PDT

Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino has died. We have tears in our eyes and emptiness in our in hearts as we read this news. It was our greatest joy to spend a wonderful week with him at Ol Pejeta Conservancy last year and we will treasure that time for the rest of our lives. In the last 24 hours Sudan was suffering a great deal from an infection in his leg and unable to stand. The veterinary team from the Dvůr Králové Zoo, Ol Pejeta and Kenya Wildlife Service made the decision to euthanize him. Meeting Sudan changed our lives. It became plainly obvious to us that the extinction of his species in our lifetime was a crime beyond all comprehension and we could not just stand by and watch. How could we, as an intelligent, evolved, and presumably empathetic species let this happen? Moreover, cause this to happen. Poor gentle Sudan spent his entire life fighting. Fighting to stay alive in Sudan where he was captured. Fighting to stay healthy in the Czech Republic zoo, fighting against poachers once he was brought back to Kenya, fighting against an infection in his leg which sadly was his last fight. Unfortunately, Sudan’s death leaves just two female northern white rhinos on the planet; his daughter Najin and her daughter Fatu, who remain at Ol Pejeta. We say goodbye to Sudan, the last man standing on earth and we ask you to commemorate his life if you are in New York by laying flowers at the sculpture site (Astor Place) and at Sudan’s feet or making a donation by visiting www.goodbyerhinos.org SUDAN 1973 - 2018 #GoodbyeSudan #GoodbyeRhinos #RIPSudan

A post shared by 💛GILLIE AND MARC💛 (@gillieandmarcart) on Mar 19, 2018 at 11:26pm PDT

Pie Face shows its, uh, face on Fourth Avenue

[Bobby Williams]

The sign for the latest NYC location of Pie Face went up on Saturday afternoon at Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street...



The Australian bakery reportedly opens today.

Per DNAinfo:

The 24-hour bakery [offers] a full menu of flaky pies stuffed with fillings like mince meat, Philly cheesesteak and tandoori vegetable.

The space was previously home to Brothers Deli. A tipster originally told us that the Pie Face was opening next door at the former Dryden Gallery ... and that a Juice Generation was opening on the corner. We'll see if we can get this sorted out...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming and going on Fourth Avenue

Southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street is up for grabs

Wattle Cafe joins forces with Pure Green at 152 2nd Ave.

[Photos by Steven]

Wattle Cafe had its grand opening over the weekend at 152 Second Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street ... inside the space that also houses Pure Green and the I.V. Doc.

The Australian cafe serves a variety of coffee drinks and brunch items... their signature dish is a cacao waffle with avocado smash.



This is the second NYC outpost for Wattle Cafe, which also has a location on Third Avenue between 33rd Street and 34th Street. (You can read an interview with owner Ana Ivkosic at this link.)

Pure Green has had several roommates — Greecologies and PlantMade — since opening two years ago in the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel, which Icon Realty bought, gutted, added three extra floors and opened as luxury rentals.

The power of the dog

 

Last night, Australian sax/drums duo Party Dozen made their first (noisy!) NYC appearance... opening for Algiers at Racket. 

Looking forward to hearing more from them. 

The video here is for "Macca The Mutt," featuring Nick Cave. (Sadly, Nick was not at Racket last night!)

Gratuitous bikini photo alert: Sports Illustrated swimsuit model buys East Second Street pad

According to a post yesterday on BlockShopper Manhattan, Australian swimsuit model Pania Rose and her beau bought an East Second Street condo for $712,000.

We look forward to seeing her at Hamilton Fish Park this summer.


[Image via SI]

F45 Training next for this 13th Street retail space

Coming soon signage is up for an F45 Training space at 110 E. 13th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue...

About them:

F45 Training is an Australian franchisor and operator of fitness centers based in Austin, Texas. It has over 2,000 studios in over 60 countries...

And! 

F45 Training merges three leading-edge fitness training styles into one 45-minute functional training class. 

There is no word on an opening date here.

INA NYC, the designer consignment store, was the last tenant in the storefront, closing in 2020. 

Former S'MAC space for lease on 12th Street

Earlier this month, S'MAC (aka Sarita's Mac & Cheese) moved from their 11-year-old home on 12th Street several storefronts away to the northwest corner at First Avenue.

And now that former 12th Street storefront is on the rental market. The listing hasn't made its way online yet. Per the signage, the landlord is looking for a restaurant tenant.

The other restaurants right along here are Pata Negra, Motorino, Thai Terminal, Ducks Eatery and, soon, Saltwater NYC, an Australian coffee shop.

Previously on EV Grieve:
S'MAC is open in new home on 1st Avenue and 12th Street

Predators lurk outside Michael Huynh's new eatery on St. Mark's Place

Michael Huynh's D.O.B. opens soon on St. Mark's Place at the site of the former Australian Homemade... They'll be serving French Vietnamese cuisine...

And look at those new scorpions adorning the wall...





A few doors down, I see a theme emerging...



Hell, of course.