Next Up In City Tavern Space: All’Onda

You’ll find it on 12th St. just west of University. Early reviews are great (although likely phony).

The upscaling of 14th St. continues just three doors down, where Le Petit Belge has opened. Stop in for a Belgian waffle. $3.50 is a bit pricey for what’s essentially a zeppole, but they are pretty good, and who would have ever thought we’d have a takeout place on our block that features not one but six crystal chandeliers? New York magazine says: “When the waffles-to-go kiosk that Belgian expats Maor Livni and Greg Galel had planned for Logan Airport was nixed by a security-crazed fire marshal, the partners transplanted the business to Manhattan, where they’ve converted the former Tavalon tea shop into Le Petit Belge. A shrine of sorts to all things Belgian—or at least to Liège waffles, various imported chocolates, and paper cones full of mini-pancakes they call “poffys”—the shop takes a cannily ecumenical approach to New York snack food. That’s why it also serves frozen yogurt, provided by Berrywild, and rugalach made with Callebaut chocolate. And tea drinkers will still find the Tavalon line, in hot, frozen, and bubble varieties.”

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has been doing some reconnaissance to find out what exactly developer Billy Macklowe has planned for his new condo building that will replace Village icon Bowlmor Lanes, and what they’ve found has not heartened them: “[The building] will take the form of a short base with retail uses coming out to the streetwall, and a very tall, narrow, residential tower rising above it. At approximately 308 feet in height, this will be one of the tallest, if not the tallest, buildings in the Village. Apparently Mr. Macklowe has told elected officials that the building will be limestone rather than glass or steel

From the NY Times:
Eataly, a giant market for artisanal Italian food products that opened in Turin two years ago, signed a lease this morning for an even larger location at 200 Fifth Avenue. (23rd St.) With 32,000 square feet of food halls and restaurants, Eataly New York will be twice the size of the Turin original. The partners in the venture are B&B Hospitality Group, the company behind nearly 20 restaurants around the country operated by Joseph and Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali, along with Oscar Farinetti and Luca Bassigo, the Italian founders and managing partners of Eataly. There will also be an 8,000 square foot rooftop garden, although the plans for that space are still being worked out. “I’m not sure whether it will be for beer, sausage and pizza or just beer and sausage,” Mr. Batali said in a phone interview today from a beach in Spain.

Let’s hope the crowd at Sidebar doesn’t find its way to our side of the park to wreak havoc.

… at least on Thursdays, when the Farmer’s Market is not in session. Details here.