3/19/2003: Brace yourselves. We can now confirm our February supposition that the plywood facade on the southeast corner of Rivington and Norfolk will house new Keith McNally German-Jewish restaurant Schneider's. Is this the beginning of the end? Or the end of the beginning?  On: 3/18/03 | Status: Very orderly. | N.B.: Trend-hoppers and fashionistas are advised to start lining up now.
3/17/2003: Neighborhood notebook from a gorgeous evening... Clinton doings: Tonight's the opening of Salt Bar (Clinton @ Stanton), a cool looking new joint from the woman behind Soho's Salt. The idea here is a pared-down menu in a paired-down space. The dishes are ambitious... Also somewhere on New York's hippest three-block stretch, we hear another new restaurant in the works will feature cuisine from LES suppliers and carry the name Local... Italian on Orchard: Opening between Houston and Stanton is a homey Italian joint called Basso Est that means "Lower East" in Italian. NYMetro has the scoop... Garage rock: On Attorney between Houston and Stanton -- one of the most unique area blocks, in that it's all garages -- word has it that the owners of Arlene Grocery are converting one of them into a new live music venue. Alas, our poking around didn't turn up anything. What's the scoop?... Reader mail: Toby L. emails from London: "I used to live in New York. I'll be there to visit for just a few days in April, and the one big question I have to ask before I get there is: Will WD-50 be open by then?" Well, obviously, it missed its March 15 opening date (beware the ides), and frankly it looks nowhere near done. May? June?... Puma-forsaking Felix Salmon emails, "Why is Chico replacing his Selena mural on Houston & B with one of the Pope? Does he know something about JPII's impending demise that we don't?"
3/14/2003: Openings, openings. We've noticed increased patronage at Dish as of late -- nearly a full house at prime time last night -- which may bode well for People, a new bar/lounge/restaurant opening a few doors down on Allen St. @ Stanton/Rivington. We chatted up the proprietor, who informs us that the place "will be open in a week or a week and a half," and will serve Asian food. Look for the awning with an unfortunate logo of letters that look like, uh, people.
3/13/2003: Friend o' this space Francesco V. checked out Pie, one of that wave of upscale new East Village pizza joints. His take: "The concept -- ordering bespoke quantities cut from a larger sheet of pizza and paying by weight -- is novel enough to distract you from the fact that: (a) it's certainly not a bargain;and (b) in the confusion of their opening days, they seem unable to process multiple requests at once. (The first in our group was done with her pizza before the third had even managed to get her order reheated.) Overall though, their pizza is well-executed and commendably thin of crust, reminiscent of what you'd find in a typical Italian joint. As for the nutella/banana 'dessert pizza, I don't know if it's an authentic touch but it is for sure a stroke of genius."
3/12/2003: Shep and I finally hit Mission last night, crossing the virtual picket line we'd erected for ourselves a few weeks earlier. (What's a little moral ambiguity on a cold night too late in the winter?) We knew from the second we stepped through the door into a spinning "Mission" logo projected on the floor that we'd entered into another world... the Upper East Side. The space is velvety and comfortable, in that uptown way, and the bartender was fake friendly, in that uptown way. One difference from the uptown scene: At midnight, we were the only two people in the place. We filled the void by envisioning the room six months hence when Mission has been discovered by its target demographic (guess who) and the place is wall-to-wall people. And we wept. (N.B. Citysearch user review: "Mission adds flava to the hood. Destined to be the Bowery's hippest neighbour, don't pass this one up - next door is the real Bowery Mission for added cred." 'Nuf sed.)
3/11/2003: No use putting it off any longer... the smoking wars are coming. Have you chosen your haven yet? One idea: Whiskey Ward (Essex @ Rivington/Delancey). "I can't afford to be known as the bar that calls the police on its patrons," owner Sandee Wright tells The New York Post. Also, the music is so loud at WW that the Police won't want to come in anyway.
3/10/2003: With great sadness, it must be noted that the TanDa moment is over. (New name: Sage.) Also via that link: two intriguing new East Village pizza/panino joints.
3/4/2003: Jacob C. emails us this Capitale influx: "I live across the street from Capitale and talk
with members of a local Itallian Social Club over beer from time to time. Members of this ISC have a vested interest in things that happen in this
neighborhood, and thus have had many dealings with the owners of Capitale.
Anyway, such sources have informed me that the current rent on the place is FOURTY THOUSAND FUCKING DOLLARS A MONTH. Problems are compounded by the fact that the neighborhood community bar laws refuses to issue a public liquor license to a place within 1000 feet of another licensed
establishment; M Bar (formerly Masat) is within this range.
Even were they able to somehow obtain a liquor license, a caberet license would be impossible (the community board
won't let it happen, not to mention the members of the ISC). I still resent the fuckers for the month I was forced to inhale bleach when
walking passed their external restoration process, so I'm all the more
ready to see them fall in a mire of back rent and no-longer-trendiness."
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