We’ve heard from the DJ, the musician, and the drag queen. Today: meet Liam Wager, a bar manager at Sidewalk Cafe. He’s one of the people who keep the East Village popping.

Daniel Maurer

The construction shed at Iconic Hand Rolls, which got memorably defaced last month, has come down; earlier today, workers were painting the facade of the building on Second Avenue near St. Marks Place. Seems everyone’s in a painterly mood: Calliope was sporting new colors earlier this week, and yesterday we spotted work being done at Michael White’s forthcoming pizzeria, Nicoletta, at Second Avenue and 10th Street. Here‘s how it looked today.

Philip Ross

Philip Ross

Aziza isn’t the only new hookah lounge in the neighborhood. Sahara Citi opened on 13th Street earlier this month. The restaurant sells about 30 flavors of tobacco and Mediterranean cuisine (see menu below). An inspirational message on the wall reads, “It is what it is…but it will become what you make it,” which might well be a reference to the casual ambiance and modest decor. Another small sign reads: “Wine me up and watch me go!” Unfortunately, despite a last-minute blessing from the community board, Saraha Citi’s beer-and-wine license is still pending, so alcohol won’t be served for at least another month. See the menu…

Grub Street reports that Sho Boo, a former chef at one of the neighborhood’s finer sushi spots, Jewel Bako, will open Bugs at 504 East 12th Street in July. The fifteen-seat restaurant will serve “sushi and Japanese small plates like chicken saikyo yaki.” Elsewhere in the sushisphere, Iconic Hand Rolls is now hiring.

Daniel Maurer

The smell of bacon on East 14th Street will soon be snuffed out.

Following more complaints of a greasy odor emanating from IHOP, The Local contacted the owner of the eatery to get the latest on the installation of a ventilation unit to neutralize the smell.

“As an IHOP franchisee, we are committed to being a good neighbor,” owner Ed Scannapieco wrote in an e-mail. “We are awaiting delivery of the equipment within the next 10 days, and we have a commitment from the contractor that it will be installed seven to 10 days after delivery.”

That will come as good news to neighbors of the restaurant who have complained since late last year about a nauseating smell that lingers around the clock.

“The odors and noise are still a problem, and the so-called ‘roof’ still looks like a garbage dump,” wrote Sandy Berger, who recently posted flyers asking her neighbors to join an IHOP victims committee.

“I had hoped that the owners would have corrected the problem by now, but right now I’m gagging on bacon fumes,” wrote another neighbor, Mary Beth Powers, to Community Board 6.

If you happen to spot the installation of the most intriguing ventilator unit since that noisy air conditioner on East 13th Street, send us a photo.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this post referred to the ventilation unit as a “smog-hog.” That reference has been deleted since the term is a brand name and Smog Hog says that it did not manufacture the unit in question.

Daniel Maurer

The old Belcourt space at Fourth Street and Second Avenue got a new paint job courtesy of Eric Korsh, the former executive chef at the Waverly Inn, and Ginevra Iverson, a former cook at Prune. They’ll soon open Calliope there. Grub Street noticed that former Peels chef Shuna Fish Lydon had a hand in the bright new look.

Meanwhile a few blocks over at Second Street and First Avenue, the Middle Eastern cafe from the duo behind Tompkins Finest Deli looks close to swinging open its doors – the shelves are stocked and some grand-opening balloons are waiting to be unleashed. We’ll have a look inside in the next days.

Jum Mum, a restaurant specializing in steamed buns, has opened in the former Hottie space at 5 St. Marks Place.

The business, which sells two pork belly buns for $5.50, is run by the owners of Spot Dessert Bar a few doors down. Several other varieties of buns and rice dishes are available as well.

Jum Mum is open from noon to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and noon to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. See the menu…

Stephen Rex Brown The sign on the door of the Starbucks at 145 Second Avenue.

The Starbucks at Second Avenue and Ninth Street has been closed by the Department of Consumer Affairs for “operating illegally,” according to a sticker on its darkened window.

When a tipster sent word earlier today, we wondered if it was a hoax, since Starbucks became a target of neighborhood scorn after it replaced the Bean at 49 1/2 First Avenue in February. But a walk past the Second Avenue location confirms that it was indeed shuttered by the D.C.A. We’re waiting to hear back from the agency about the circumstances of what will likely be a temporary closure, and will post any updates as we get them.

Update | 2:57 p.m. Starbucks spokesman Zack Hutson explained that the coffee shop failed to renew its sidewalk cafe permit. Read more…

Daniel Maurer

The former home of Dana Falafel Shawarma Deli will be offering falafel again – and flavored tobacco, as well. In the next weeks, a hookah lounge will open in the modest storefront at 45 First Avenue, near Third Street.

Stu El-Boghdedy, the manager of the forthcoming Aziza (a girl’s name meaning “beloved” in Arabic) gave The Local a sneak peek into the 35-seat lounge decorated with Moroccan lanterns, fabrics and poufs. In addition to Egyptian water pipes, he said, he’ll be serving light appetizers such as hummus, falafel, grape leaves, and eggplant salad as well as non-alcoholic drinks such as Turkish coffee, mint tea served in ornate teapots, and salep, a sweet, hot milk drink.

Mr. El-Boghdedy said hookahs would go from $12 to $35 or $40, which raised the question: why are water pipes at the East Village’s numerous smoke dens so expensive, anyway? Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown Ducks Eatery will open in the old Resto Leon space on East 12th Street.

The chef from the trendy ping pong bar Spin plans to open a new creole barbecue and seafood joint on East 12th Street in the next four to six weeks.

Crispy pig ears, yakamein (a New Orleans noodle soup), shellfish, braised pork spines, and peppercorn briskets injected with cachaca and apricot preserve are all planned for the menu of the new restaurant, called Ducks Eatery.

“We’re diving hardcore into the creole and barbecue thing,” said chef Will Horowitz. “It’s pretty wild, the flavor profiles we’re doing.” Read more…

Daniel Maurer Workers removed kitchen items today.

Friend House, an Asian restaurant and lounge that brought in a weekend party crowd, has closed amid a bankruptcy filing, lawsuits, and mounting debt. The deathblow came Monday when a city marshal turned possession of the space over to the landlord.

The eatery at Third Avenue and 13th Street applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last June, court papers show. At the time, it cited $675,995 in liabilities, including over $491,200 in rent arrears, more than $86,206 owed to Renaissance Development Corp., and smaller debts to food and wine vendors. According to papers filed last week, the company also owes about $87,000 to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and about $24,000 to the city Department of Consumer Affairs. Read more…

Courtesy of Cruisin’ Kitchen

CBGB will be all over the place this summer, and so will a new truck bearing the name of one of the club’s legends. Marky Ramone’s Cruisin’ Kitchen hit the streets about two weeks ago, and the owner, a former East Villager, plans to feed the neighborhood’s late-night hordes.

Keith Album, a French Culinary Institute grad who has worked in catering, as a personal chef, and most recently at Whole Foods, describes his concept as “worldwide balls,” with Marky Ramone’s signature marinara sauce slathered over the Italian variety.

Not only that: the former Ramones drummer’s name and likeness are plastered on the side of the truck.  Read more…

Courtesy Christina Tosi

If anyone in the culinary world still hasn’t noticed the abundance of unique and delectable dessert shops that sprinkle the East Village, they will now: earlier this week, Momofuku Milk Bar’s chef-owner Christina Tosi clinched a Rising Star Chef of the Year medal at the James Beard Foundation Awards, widely considered “the Oscars of the restaurant industry.” The honor usually goes to savory chefs, but Ms. Tosi is one of a handful of pastry practitioners in the neighborhood that are getting wider recognition.

“I believe in what we do at Milk Bar and it’s incredibly rewarding to know that others do, too,” Ms. Tosi told The Local. Read more…

Ray LeMoine

Bishops and Barons has literally rolled out the red carpet for an exclusive preview party this evening, but firefighters, despite their lack of “ambassador” credentials, had no problem getting into the new nightspot.

Around 6 p.m., smoke from the lounge’s kitchen brought red engines to 14th Street near Second Avenue. Fortunately, there was no serious fire. And the place can now claim to be a hotspot from day one.

Daniel Maurer

A quirky “ambassador” program that failed because its cool members weren’t cool enough for the Chelsea nightclub they were representing will be implemented in a new bar on East 14th Street.

The owner of Bishops & Barons, which is celebrating its opening tonight in the old Hype Lounge space, expects that his roughly 150 ambassadors will invite their friends to the restaurant and cocktail lounge that evokes the days of “showgirls, movie star gangsters and supper clubs,” according to a press release.

“It’s all about creating a foundation for the place,” said owner Danny Kane of his ambassadors. “That way, when people walk in it’s not empty and there’s energy.” Read more…

Emily J. Hara The Squeeze truck.

A new food truck will hit the streets of the East Village next week. According to its creator, The Squeeze will be the only bio-diesel-fueled, pressed juice truck in the city. It’ll certainly be the only one selling vegan “Funyons.”

When Karliin Brooks turned vegan at the age of 16, she craved more than just granola bars. She went on to graduate from N.Y.U. with a degree in Nutrition and Broadcast Journalism and then attended the The Natural Gourmet Institute. Now the 38-year-old caterer has reconditioned a onetime UPS truck and will use it to serve buckwheat popcorn and “Twix” bars made with dates and soybean in lieu of caramel.

“We are food alchemists,” said Ms. Brooks, whose partner in The Squeeze is Jen Gatien, producer of “Limelight.” “We convert high-energy raw food into something that people can recognize and would consume.” Read more…

Daniel Maurer The bar at 170 Avenue A.

Once again, it’s neighbor versus nightlife: Bar on A is locked in a battle of wills with an upstairs tenant who has frequently complained to city authorities about what she says is “extreme noise.”

However, a person associated with the 17-year-old watering hole, which opened around the same time as the recently shuttered Lakeside Lounge, blames the neighbor for incessant complaints which he says have cost the establishment tens of thousands of dollars in revenue and even resulted in a police raid.

Mitch, an associate of Bar on A who did not want to be identified by his last name owing to the bar’s delicate situation, blamed the present conflict on “this nuisance neighbor who’s abusing the 311 system and recruiting people like a vigilante to hang us and hang everybody else in the neighborhood.” Read more…

Laura Edwins

Shortly after reopening the People’s Pops stand yesterday evening, Nathalie Jordi made it official: “It’s the start of Popsicle season,” she said.

The stand at East Seventh Street near First Avenue is one of eight locations (the Chelsea Market and Park Slope outposts also reopened yesterday, and a pop-up booth is coming to Madison Square Park on Saturday), but it’s a prized one.

“This is where the business got started, so we’re psyched to be back,” said Ms. Jordi of her first brick-and-mortar spot. Read more…

City Room hit Lakeside Lounge last night for the beloved bar’s swan song. Or swan songs, rather: Patti Smith’s guitarist Lenny Kaye sang Van Morrison’s “Gloria,” and there were also covers of “Now I Wanna Be Your Dog” (performed by Charlene McPherson), “I Don’t Wanna Hang Up My Rock ’n’ Roll Shoes” (with Jimbo Mathus, formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers), and the Stones song, “Sway” (rendered by Chip Robinson). “This bar is for musicians and the people who like to hang around them,” said Mr. Kaye. “We’re going to miss this joint.”