David Bouley Stymied by Community Board 1 in Move That’s Increasingly CommonAs Grub readers know, community-board-meeting shitshows end up determining what you eat, drink, and, in the case of the abandoned Forty Deuce space (which will now house Chris Eddy’s sushi spot), what sort of celebs and semi-nudity you may or may not be able to feast your eyes upon on a Monday night. Consider the case of recently opened Mercury Dime, which wanted wine, but ended up serving coffee. Or the plight of Death & Co., which now has to close at midnight and may end up gone for good. Or David Bouley’s attempt to open Brushstrokes, which Eater reports was again stymied by Community Board 1 last night, though Bouley will have one more chance to plead his case later this month.
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Omido Chef and Maybe AvroKo to Join Chris Eddy in Nolita ProjectYesterday, we brought news that Chris Eddy, owner of barmarché, has plans for the Forty Deuce space; today, Eddy tells us that he’ll be joined in the venture by Omido chef-owner and founding SushiSamba chef Eliji “Taka” Takase. “We’ve been trying to do a restaurant for ten years now,” Eddy says. Can we assume that AvroKo, designers of Omido and owners of nearby Public, will be on board? Nothing is final yet, but it’s a very good assumption. Eddy plans to open in summer and says that, although certain neighbors are concerned about rising property values, he’s working with them and has been assured by the community board that, if he agrees to certain concessions, he’ll have a liquor license by February. Wherever Ivan Kane is these days, he must be sick with envy.
Related: Chris Eddy of Barmarché and industry (food) Goes After Forty Deuce Space
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Chris Eddy of Barmarché and industry (food) Goes After Forty Deuce SpaceWe’re hearing that Chris Eddy, partner in industry (food) and creator of Barmarché is seeking to open a sushi-fusion restaurant in the beleaguered Forty Deuce space. There was apparently no resolution about the liquor-license application at last week’s community-board meeting, but it seems neighborhood activists are wary. Since they’re already nervous about a 270-room Mondrian hotel with a “glamorous restaurant” going up at 150 Lafayette Street and perhaps leery of Eddy’s background “managing Manhattan’s well-known nightspots and high-profile restaurants such as Mercer Kitchen, Bond St., Lotus, and Bungalow 8” (per his bio), they weren’t all that happy about high-end sushi coming to the nabe. For our part, we think Eddy has proven himself to the neighborhood with Barmarché, a reliable, relatively low-key destination for great cocktails.
