Photos: Nicole Guzzardi

Han Joo, the Korean barbecue joint that’s been going into the Sox in the City space on St. Marks Place, will open Tuesday.

According to manager Kitae Um, the Manhattan offshoot will serve the same menu as the Queens original, with one addition: soju cocktails.

Oh, and there’s one other big difference. “This space is a lot more trendy,” said Mr. Um, “and even has a bar.” A sleek marble bar, at that, with hot red stools.

Each of the 22 tabletops is equipped with a grill where chefs will prepare food as visitors dine. Check out the no-joke ventilators via The Local’s slideshow.

Han Joo, 12 St. Marks Place, near Third Avenue

Nicole Guzzardi

San Matteo Panuozzo couldn’t cut it on St. Marks Place. Literally. The pizza-dough-sandwich shop has closed (and, contrary to a sign in the window, won’t be reopening) because it wasn’t allowed to serve proper pies.

Vincenzo Scardino, an owner of San Matteo Pizza and Espresso Bar on the Upper East Side, said that he and is two partners decided to close its downtown spin-off at 121 St. Marks because the landlord wouldn’t allow them to sell pizza, fearing it would interfere with the business of his other tenant, Nino’s, a couple of doors down.

“They thought it would take business from the guy on the corner, even though our product is completely different,” said Mr. Scardino. The restaurateur added that San Matteo had always planned to start serving pizza, just like its uptown location does, once it obtained its liquor license. But when the owners went back and asked their landlord about it, he put the kibosh on the plan. Read more…

A tipster spotted this sign affixed to Spanky & Darla’s. The health department notice, dated Oct. 3, indicates the bar was closed for operating without a permit.

It’s not the first time the dive at 140 First Avenue has been forcibly shut down. In 2010, the bar’s predecessor, Cheap Shots, was closed after underage drinking busts and fighting caused it to be declared a “public nuisance,” a police department attorney told NYC the Blog.

During its time as Cheap Shots, the bar had to pay a total of $11,000 for offenses that included sales to minors, unlicensed security guards, and unlimited drinks specials, according to State Liquor Authority records.

The Liquor Authority’s Website indicates that a liquor license for the establishment was recently renewed, and activated on Oct. 1, 2012. The premises name and trade name are listed as Cheapshots rather than Spanky & Darla’s.

In May, Big Apple Reviews called the bar “a great place to go for a low-key night to just get some drinks, or get plastered before painting the town red.”

For every East Village business that’s opening or closing, dozens are quietly making it. Here’s one of them: Sixth Street Pilates.

Courtesy Sixth Street Pilates

Pilates used to be more of an Upper East Side thing, but for nine years, Sixth Street Pilates at 525 East Sixth Street has quietly been aligning and providing intense, balancing workouts to those who don’t dare travel above 14th Street. Of course, the East Village is also a Mecca for yoga students, but co-owner Jeremy Laverdure doesn’t sweat that. “I am much more worried about spin and spin hybrid classes,” he said. “SoulCycle keeps me up at night more than Bikram. There are also five million other Pilates teachers out there and while there aren’t many in the neighborhood, there are a lot of teachers out there who are not working for us.” The Local spoke to Mr. Laverdure about the core strength of Sixth Street Pilates and how the roughly 1,000-square-foot studio has made it for nearly a decade.

You’ve been surviving as a business owner in the East Village for almost a decade.

We’ve been in business for nine years in one way or another. Our first year we were in a little studio apartment across the street. My friend Abby started the studio and I was the first person to work there for her. After a year and a lot of flooding – we were in this kind of ground level subterranean unit – we moved to where we are now. After another three years Abby moved to Texas and sold the business to me. I was the sole proprietor for four years until I made Anula Maiberg a partner about a year ago. Read more…

Hi! Just wanted to quickly clear something up. The Local will not be attending Café Khufu’s “Burlesques Bitches and Gents” costume party this weekend. Yes, yes, we know there’s going to be a lap dance competition and a high heels contest, but unfortunately we’re just not going to be able to make it.

So why does the latest invite say “NY Times attending this weekends event!”? We assume it’s because, when we saw the initial e-flyer suggesting that female guests come dressed like this (not safe for work) and male guests come dressed like this (perfectly safe for work), we thought: wait a minute, is this the same quiet cafe that, despite the community board’s policy against supporting side-street liquor licenses, got a rare show of support when it applied for a beer and wine license earlier this year? And now it’s advertising an “I’ll Lychee Lick Me” cocktail and a “Sexual Healer” hookah?

Back in January, the board, which had thrice declined to get behind the coffee shop’s application, finally voted to support it after much debate, in part because operator Lisa Buriss was a longtime neighborhood resident and a former director of organizing at Good Old Lower East Side. (And also because the board is loosening up about beer-and-wine licenses.)

And so, one of The Local’s reporters e-mailed the owner of Café Khufu to ask whether another lap dance contest (there had also been one advertised for Sept. 29) was the wisest way to make use of its new license, which went into effect in July. (After all, city records show that at least one person called 311 to complain of an “adult establishment” at 103 Avenue B back when Casimir launched a burlesque night.) We never heard back – that is, until the e-flyer below went out today, announcing that The Times would be in the house!

We didn’t mean to cause any confusion, Café Khufu – maybe catch you next time? Read more…

Lauren Carol Smith

JapaDog, the Japanese hot dog joint that opened on St. Marks Place in January, is giving ’em away in Union Square.

Nodding to its humble origins as a Vancouver food stand, the brand set up a cart outside of Best Buy this morning and gave away beef and veggie dogs, topped with cherry mayo. They’re now going for $3.

Same deal tomorrow: free dogs from 10 a.m. till noon, then $3 dogs till 6 or 7 p.m.

Joshua Heeki, a chef and manager at the St. Marks location, said JapaDog hopes to eventually launch a more permanent cart somewhere in the city, but this one is mostly a publicity ploy. “We want the public to know about us a bit more,” he said.

In other wiener news, Bowery Boogie hears that Links is set to open tomorrow at 188 Allen Street, with another hot dog spot, Los Perros Locos, opening soon across the street.

When we last checked on the status of Andrew Carmellini’s hotly anticipated mezzanine lounge at the Public Theater, the chef was hoping to open in time for the theater’s re-dedication ceremony this Thursday. The opening date has now been set for next Tuesday, Oct. 9, as designer David Rockwell finishes the job.

To tide you over til then, we’ve scored the lounge’s menu. Created by Mr. Carmellini with the help of Michael Oliver (who has worked under him at Cafe Boulud and Locanda Verde), mixologist Tiffany Short, and beverage director Josh Nadel (also of Locanda as well as Mr. Carmellini’s other restaurant, The Dutch), it will be available at both The Library and Joe’s Pub from 5:30 p.m. to midnight, after which a late-night menu will be served until 2 a.m.

Mr. Carmellini and the team at Joe’s Pub will also be operating a full-service lobby bar where snacks, cheese plates, cookies, cupcakes, Stumptown coffee, wine on tap, and seasonal punches will be served.

The Library at the Public is now accepting reservations at 212-539-8777. The menu…

“I believe our food is the best in this neighborhood because I know that quality best,” said Aidin Zekirovski of the Italian-French dishes he’ll serve at Entrez Bar & Grill when it opens in the former Pomodoro Pizzeria space tomorrow.

It’s a bold claim, but the restaurateur – who recently moved here from Copenhagen, Denmark, where he owns an Italian restaurant, Sdessanos – said he and his business partners conducted three months of market research before deciding to settle in the East Village.

Mr. Zekirovski’s online questionnaires and on-the-street interviews with neighborhood residents revealed that East Villagers were looking for “healthy and affordable” dishes in a casual setting. “We found out people who live in the neighborhood, most of which are students, they require and want something like this,” he said. “Somewhere they can hang out and socialize.” Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

First Sidewalk Cafe, and now another neighborhood joint has ditched 24/7 service.

Yesterday, The Local spotted a “SORRY!” sign on the door of B.A.D. Burger indicating it will no longer be open around-the-clock Monday through Thursday. The new weekday hours: 11 a.m. to 5 a.m.

“The neighborhood doesn’t rock the way it used to,” explained Perry “Pee Wee” Masco, who opened the burger joint with her brother, Keith, last November. “Business in the summer was difficult. We would go four or five hours without an order. Between staff and electricity, it was hard.”

For now, they’ll stay open 24-hours only on weekends, with the hope of going back to 24/7 service if business picks up.  

Meanwhile, on the other side of Houston Street, Bowery Diner hasn’t found around-the-clock service to be a challenge, according to owner Mathieu Palombino. Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

One of the neighborhood’s iconic storefronts was marred last week when the cover of the “E” went mysteriously missing from Gem Spa’s sign. (Or maybe it’s an improvement? Those lights do look appropriately gem-like.)

An employee at the egg cream mecca on the corner of Second Avenue and St. Marks Place told The Local today, “The ‘E’ blew off last week in the wind. It just came off.” But rest assured, order will soon be restored. “We still have it,” said the worker, sliding the E, cracked in two places, out from its temporary home on top of a refrigerator in the back of the store.

And so, the E won’t be missing for nearly as long as the one over at Moishe’s Bake Shop. “It got a little cracked, but it’s O.K. We should have it up again by today.”

Daniel Maurer

A Southern-grub joint on East Fourth Street will finally begin pouring whiskey on Monday – an accomplishment its owner said was “no small feat.”

The Cardinal has been serving beer and wine since it opened last August – something owner Curtis Brown perceives as a handicap. When customers find out the restaurant doesn’t serve hard stuff, they often go elsewhere. “For brunch people just say, ‘Oh, you don’t have booze? Oh sorry, we really wanted a Bloody Mary,’” he said.

Now the restaurant will begin serving “a nice Bloody Mary,” in addition to specialty cocktails that will likely contain infused and small-batch liquors as well as ingredients made in-house (the onions will be hand-pickled and the Marsciano cherries will also be made on-site).

The road to a liquor license was a rocky one, due to the community board’s resolution against supporting license applications on side streets, said Mr. Brown. Read more…

For every East Village business that’s opening or closing, dozens are quietly making it. Here’s one of them: Shape of Lies.

Shira Levine

Collage artist and jewelry designer Peggy Yunque has been living and working at 127 East Seventh Street with her husband, a sculptor and filmmaker, for almost 33 years. That means when customers walk into her shop, Shape of Lies, during its fairly limited hours (Thursday and Friday, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.) they’re standing in her living room. That card table tucked behind a display case? It’s actually their dinner table.

“People in the neighborhood know we live there, so if they have a gift emergency and the gate is down, or the lights are off, they knock,” Ms. Yunque told The Local. “I think we might be one of the only stores in the neighborhood living where we work. It’s sad how much things like that have changed in the city.” Ms. Yunque pulled out the table, some grapefruit juice from the fridge, and we sat by her fireplace surrounded by a dozen collections of locally made accessories and talked about how she ended up “breaking even since 1979.”

What exactly is The Shape of Lies?

We are a studio, a workshop and a shop. We only carry designers who produce their products in New York. That’s different from just carrying local designers. Many local designers produce their work in China or Thailand. We don’t do that. We use only the casters, sauterers, and finishers on 47th Street because we have so few of them left. Read more…

Noah Fecks

The first New York Oyster Week, celebrating our city’s special history with the salty bivalve while examining preservation efforts, is upon us. Until Sat. 29, there’ll be “oyster-centric” events in and around the city. But these East Village oyster specials can be had year-round.

Mermaid Inn
96 Second Avenue, near Fifth Street; (212) 674-5870
At this neighborhood fixture, you can pledge allegiance to the East Coast or West Coast: Barcat oysters, from the east, are offered for $1 each while Chefs Creek oysters, from the west, are $1.75 each during the “Happy Hour and a Half”: Monday through Thursday from 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Desnuda – Winebar & Cevicheria
122 East Seventh Street, near Avenue A; (212) 254-3515
It’s happy days at the Bourgeois Pig’s dark and sexy sister bar, which serves Beau Soleil oysters on the half shell with ginger shallot, relish and chipotle mignonette, Sunday from 2 p.m. to midnight and Monday 6 p.m. to midnight. Order a glass of wine from their selection of South American varieties and you can get a dozen oysters for $1 each. Read more…

Interior shots: Alexa Mae Asperin. Food shots: Zandy Mangold.

“I’m sick of everyone doing pork belly,” says Leah Cohen, the former Centro Vinoteca chef best known as a contestant on “Top Chef.”

That’s why, at her new Clinton Street restaurant, she’s staying away from it. “We eventually want to do pork brains, ears and just everything,” she said.

Pig and Khao, her project with the Fatty Crew Hospitality Partners (Fatty Crab, Fatty ‘Cue) opened for dinner tonight, with a Thai-Filipino menu (below) inspired by the year Ms. Cohen, whose mother is Filipino, spent in Asia.

“Most of the cuisine that I had when I was traveling in Asia, like in Thailand or in the Philippines, the main staples were pork and rice,” said Ms. Cohen. At Pig and Khao (“khao” means “rice” in Thai), she’ll be braising, air drying and frying pork cuts such as head, face, butt and leg – with Thai accents of cilantro, lemongrass, basil and mint. Read more…

Nicole Guzzardi

The High Holy Days are keeping Moishe Perl, the owner of Moishe’s Kosher Bake Shop, well occupied – but he’ll soon be even busier. After four decades on Second Avenue, the bakery is due for some changes.

Mr. Perl told The Local he would soon divide the bakeshop into three sections: a café, a bakery serving the usual tegalach and babka, and an area for hot foods like knishes, blintzes and pierogies. Read more…

Dana Varinsky David Simon at Croissanteria.

Hot on the heels of Bikinis, the neighborhood is getting another European-style cafe. Croissanteria, which doubles as a bakery, will debut on Avenue A in two or three weeks.

You can guess what’s on the menu: a variety of croissants with flavors like cinnamon raisin and chocolate, assorted mini croissants, and croissant sandwiches like ham with melted Gruyere. Owner and chef David Simon also plans to offer homemade baguettes and a custom coffee blend created by Brooklyn Roasting Company.

Mr. Simon, 30, grew up in a food-making family. His parents, originally from Belgium, started Catskill Artisan Smokehouse in Wallkill, New York. Until early summer he worked for them as a distributor, selling their products to high-end stores and restaurants like Russ and Daughters, Dean and DeLuca, and Veselka. Read more…

Dana Varinsky Atef Boulaabi.

A specialty food shop that counted local chefs David Chang of Momofuku and Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune as fans will reopen next month.

Before closing a little over a year ago, S.O.S. Chefs sold high-end imported spices and gourmet products like truffles and rare mushrooms to “some of the most renowned restaurants and chefs in the world,” as none other than Martha Stewart put it. In the Momofuku cookbook, David Chang said he improvised his roasted mushroom salad after going there to pick up some truffles and instead buying Turkish pistachios, hon shimiji and king oyster mushrooms, fleur de sel, and pistachio oil.  He’s gotten bay leaves there, too.

Atef Boulaabi, the owner, said S.O.S. Chefs 2020, as its new incarnation will be called, will have more of a retail focus. “Before we were chef, chef, chef,” she said, noting that 80 percent of her business was wholesale. Read more…

Shira Levine has filed many a Making It column using the free WiFi at EarthMatters. On its last day, she penned a eulogy from the cafe and health food store.

Shira Levine Here’s what is left of the herbs and tinctures. Come tonight if you want to load up on Scientology’s favorite purifying vitamin, niacin before it hits the mean streets of Ludlow.

New York, I love you, but you’re bringing me down. Yet another beloved institution is closing its doors. Today is the last day EarthMatters will feed and entertain us and Friday it will auction off its remaining furniture, fixtures and kitchenware.

Opened in 2001, EarthMatters was a place that mattered to locals and to tourists who bothered going farther down Ludlow Street than Katz’s Deli. It was our Cheers. Sure, most of us thought it was overpriced, but we continued to order bowls of delicious tahini kale, chickpea pesto and beet salads. We shopped for homeopathic tinctures and ayurvedic herbs. We lounged in those shabby couches and chairs. Read more…

Photos: Nicole Guzzardi

Angelina Café will open across the street from its former location as soon as it gets a visit from the gas man.

Rafik Bouzgarrou, the owner of the Mediterranean bistro, said he moved out of his modest digs at 36B Avenue A last month because his landlord wanted to raise his rent of $7,500 per month. He’s now paying a similar amount for a space that’s three times the size.

At 37 Avenue A, Mr. Bouzgarrou has installed a proper wine bar, where Mediterranean and Basque wines are displayed on a rack. One wall is decorated by a map of the Mediterranean, painted by Angelina customer John Bean. The build-out was also the work of friends and customers, said Mr. Bouzgarrou. “They all knew I didn’t really have money to move here,” he said. Read more…