1) BelDel: A special Eater correspondent sent along this cameraphone snap of Casanis on Wednesday night, last seen under construction during our BelDel plywood tour a few weeks back. A call to the new French bistro confirms that it opened last night. Also now post-plywood: Clandestino, an inviting (if compact) new neighborhood bar on Canal between Ludlow and Essex.
2) East Village: Let's revisit another plywood regular, shall we? Emails a tipster, "The big new 'european-style' restaurant E.U. on East 4th St is opening soon. there are signs in the window with claims of ploughman sandwiches, tapas, quiche and other 'here's how the euro's do it' options. as cheesy as the claims are, the space looks great and the food sounds delicious." This is the AvroKo-designed space that's been held up by lack of a liquor license since the late fall. Though it looks ready, we're hearing late March at the earliest. In short: ug-ly.
3) Tribeca: Another victim of the Great Liquor License Draught of 2006: "It's mid February and still The Liquor Store remains unopened. The word on the street is that every time the new owner files for his liquor license the Townsend family (above the Columbine sandwich shop) files papers to block him from getting said liquor license." Indeed, the wood is cleaned, the brass is polished—but it's hard to run a bar on BYO margins.
4) West Village: "A small sign goes up at what was Chez Michallet on Bedford and Grove. The 8x10 paper taped to the says, 'Watch for the coming of the Little Owl." Little Owl?" A few days later, another tipster emailed, "Saw your writeup on the Blue Owl. I couldn't help putting one and one together. Is the Blue Owl also opening up the Little Owl?" In fact, no connection. We can reveal that the chef at Little Owl will be Joey Campanaro of Pace and Harrison fame. Definitely one to watch; check back next week for more.
Sadly, when the new comes in, the old flows out. Anti-plywood reader reports of recent closings...
5) Lower East Side/East Village: "Noticed that Smoked (bbq place on 2nd Ave & 6th St) and Petrosino (Houston & Norfolk) are shuttered." Yep—Petrosino (and next-door spinoff Canapa) closings confirmed by FloFab in Wednesday's food notes. Shuttered exterior seen above, menu beckoning forlornly from behind plexiglass. No remorse here: Petrosino was a shuttering so long overdue, one of us lost a bet with a colleague concerning our predicted closing date for the place. Yes, we still blame Bruni for this.
6) Central Village: "Any idea what happened with 61 Cafe? (61 5th ave, corner on 13th street) Last week, it had a sign that said 'closed', and today i noticed a sign that said 'for rent.'" Alas, this submission has been rejected because 61 Cafe was, in fact, a deli. However, this plywood tip will be considered for inclusion in BodgeaWatch™, an exciting new Eater feature debuting sometime between now and Bruni's Del Posto review.
[Seen plywood in your neighborhood? Let us know about it. Bonus points for attaching digital photos or cameraphone pix. Thanks.]
