Party of 5: 'Gaffigan' filming today in the East Village

Comedian Jim Gaffigan is filming his CBS pilot around the neighborhood today. Expect trucks and crews and stuff on parts on East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place adjacent to Tompkins Square Park ... (Crews are also filming on the Lower East Side too.)



Per the sign up here on East Seventh Street, "the comedy revolves around Galligan as a happily married man and New York City father of five — as he is in real life."

In real life, he lives on the Bowery.

Noted

Spotted outside Pinkberry on St. Mark's Place this evening by @Ewingweb

Talon grip

In the late afternoon sun in Tompkins Square Park today... photo by Bobby Williams.

That touch of sun

Second Avenue near East Seventh Street.

Your view of the Domino Sugar Refinery from the Lower East Side might just look like this

Here are some photos from last year via Bobby Williams showing the Domino Sugar Refinery next to the Manhattan Bridge in Williamsburg ...



As you may know, developers plunked down (forked over?) $185 million to buy the site last summer.

Skipping ahead, the new renderings for the site were released over the weekend. Perhaps you saw them at Gothamist or Curbed.

If not, well — brace for impact.


[SHoP Architects via Gothamist]

Curbed has a lot more of the details. The whole thing should take about 10 years at a cost of $1.5 billion to make happen.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Bombing the Domino Sugar Refinery

At the Domino Sugar Refinery

Morning rush

This a.m., by Bobby Williams.

Favorite East Village places: Ink on A

East Village-based photographer Gudrun Georges has a photo essay on one of our favorite places in the neighborhood — Ink On A, Avenue A between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street... She shared these photos with us...







Find the rest of her photos from Ink here, where she has more about Ink owner Ben Dahud.

TR Crandall Guitars opening soon on East Third Street

[Via @TRCguitars]

Signs are up at 179 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B for TR Crandall Guitars ... we asked them about the storefront via Facebook:

"We plan to be open full time starting April 8th. We specialize in fine quality vintage acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins and ukuleles. We will have an unequalled repair shop with master craftsman Tom Crandall at the helm."

Crandall is a 13-year veteran of Matt Umanov Guitars on Bleecker Street.


[Via @TRCguitars]

Claim: Nobu alum taking over Kajitsu space on East Ninth Street

Kajitsu, the highly-regarded vegetarian kaiseki restaurant, recently made the move from East Ninth Street to East 39th Street.

Now a tipster passes along word that a 15-year-alum of Nobu plans to take over the space for a restaurant featuring an upscale traditional Japanese menu. The new name is said to be Cagen. They will be applying for a beer-wine license at an upcoming CB3/SLA meeting.

Joe's Pizza opens today on East 14th Street

That's the word from Eater, who got a look inside the pizzeria on Friday. (BoweryBoogie has some interior shots here.) Eater notes that the pizza tastes exactly like what Joe Pozzuoli serves at the Carmine Street location. In other words, no 99-cent or $1 crap.



Joe's takes over the space last used by Naked Pizza...

On the topic of pizza on this stretch of East 14th Street... Cafe Amore still sits empty closer to Fourth Avenue...



The "for rent" signs that went up here in April have been removed, though.

Checking in on the $1 pizza war on First Avenue

Speaking of pizza... The third East Village 2 Bros. Pizza location opened on First Avenue near East 14th Street on Feb. 15 ... Flashback!



The sign battle has escalated here as this photo by Dave on 7th shows...



The 10-year-old Vinny Vincenz certainly has the advantage, serving a variety of homemade items (eggplant parmesan hero, woot!).

Per Eater's Greg Morabito: "The regular $2.50 slice is easily three or four times better than one of those crummy pieces of wet cardboard served at 2 Bros., or at any of the other dollar slice joints in the area."

Caffe Buon Gusto has been closed on Avenue B

Well, there's a long recent history here on East Fifth Street and Avenue B... We first reported Caffe Buon Gusto's incoming arrival in June 2009. However, through the years, the space became dormant, serving as a makeshift shelter and a canvas.

Then! Last April, new signage arrived... The Italian eatery did open in the spring... and the place never seemed all that busy... and while diners generally liked the food, we heard a few stories about the ambiance, like the Rangers game on the flat-panel TV behind the bar on mute with Yanni cranking on the house stereo.

In any event, Bill the libertarian anarchist and a few other readers have noted the place hasn't been open of late... calls to the restaurant go unanswered...

Heart n' Soul opening this week at the site of the former Mama's Food Shop

Several readers pointed us to the revamped space that previously belonged to Mama's Food Shop on East Third Street at Avenue B... (Mama's closed last July after 15 years.)


[Photo by @ThePeterHa]


[Photo by Dave on 7th]

Heart 'n Soul, which opens this week, will feature the "Coastal Southern cuisine" of chef Dave Conn, who spend a good part of his life in the South. Read more about him and his influences at the Heart 'n Soul website.

And here's their menu...



Heart 'N Soul is on this month's CB3/SLA committee docket for a beer-wine license. The landlord of the building also owns the adjacent Mama's Bar.

Welcome back: the Pearl Diner has returned

We've been keeping an eye on one of the city's great diners, the 50-year-old (plus) Pearl Diner on the fringes of the Financial District. They never reopened after Superstorm Sandy.

We're happy to say that the Pearl is back. Our friends at One More Folded Sunset noted that the diner started serving again on Feb. 19.

We swung by for a few photos. A great deal going on now weeknights too...





The diner is at 212 Pearl St., a block west of Water Street between John Street and Maiden Lane.