Openings

Beatrice Inn, Employees Only Vets to Open New Restaurants

Photo: Yun Cee Ng

A couple of new scenestraunts are on the horizon: First, the Times checks in with the shuttered Beatrice Inn and its neighbors and discovers the following: “Unaddressed problems include low ceilings, inadequate exits and staircases, and the lack of a sprinkler system and required permits. Mr. Piersanti estimated that such changes would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and city records show that the club owes $23,000 in fines and that the liquor license is up for renewal at the beginning of 2010.” None of which bodes well, but here’s a ray of hope: “Paul Sevigny plans to open a new club and restaurant in Soho, away from residential areas, said people involved in the discussions.” Interesting.

There aren’t yet details about that operation, but the Strong Buzz has news about another sure-to-be-sceney restaurant opening in the fall from celebrity photographer Patrick McMullan and Billy Gilroy (an owner of Employees Only): “East Side Social Club will provide gracious service in a comfortable, old-world atmosphere with a 1940s film noir vibe. Gilroy’s son, Devon (Chanterelle, A Voce) will head up the kitchen, while Gilroy’s daughter, Grace, and brother, Jim, will run the front-of-house operations along with partners Patrick Fahey and Tarek Debira.” You’ll recall that Devon and Grace are also operating the Pod Café. The East Side Social Club will be located in the old Montparnasse space in midtown, far away from the Lower East Side’s East Side Company, but they still might want to rethink the similar name.

Beatrice Inn, Employees Only Vets to Open New Restaurants