Grand Park, Taavo Somer's Diner Get Go Ahead from CB3

Unfortunately, Team Eater couldn't make it to last night's five hour long Community Board 3 SLA Licensing Committee meeting to find out what happened to Jesse Hartman's controversial Grand Park, Taavo Somer's project in the old Kelly & Peng space, and all the others. Luckily, The Lo-Down and Fork in the Road have filed reports, with the following findings:

· CB3 extended their original approval of Jesse Hartman's Grand Park, a restaurant going into the old Isabella's Oven space, despite concerns from some outspoken members of the Seward Park co-op. For more on why there was even a controversy, read the back story here.

· Downtown hipster king Taavo Somer (Freemans, The Rusty Knot) won approval for his two-story diner on Bowery and East 2nd St. He's planning "a 63-seat restaurant with a 38-foot counter on the first floor and a 19-foot bar on the second." The community members who voiced approval complained that the long vacant space has become gathering spot for drug dealers.

· Clinton Restaurant, a hold out from a different era on the LES will change hands and become The Pinalto City, a taqueria and sandwich shop. We can only hope it will fall on the Frankies/Clinton St. Baking Company rather than the Fat Hippo/Donnybrook side of the Clinton Street spectrum.

· A new "rustic European" restaurant is hoping to take over the Persimmon space on East 10th Street but the owners must first meet with community members to win their approval; Vibrations won approval for the old Lava Gina space on Ave C; and Kanoyama got the go ahead for their sake bar/raw bar.
· Night Line: CB3's SLA Committee [TLD]
· The Freemans Gang is Opening a Classic American Diner on the Bowery [FitR]