Much More on the Skyscraper Condo Coming Our Way

Comfort food joint Chat ‘n Chew shut its doors this week after 22 years in the neighborhood, but the owner plans to reopen it as an Italian restaurant.

The diner-style eatery at 10 E. 16th St. near Fifth Avenue will relaunch in two weeks as Little Sal’s, said Ethan Silverman, son of owner Andrew Silverman.

“[Chat ‘n Chew] lost some of it’s energy, and now we’re getting it back,” Ethan Silverman said. “It’s going to be a Chat ‘n Chew on steroids. It’ll have traditional Italian food like chicken parm, eggplant parm and pastas.”

Silverman compared the concept of Little Sal’s to New York City restaurants like Sauce and Parm, where it’s “casual and family oriented — selling wine by the glass and not the bottle,” he said.

Andrew Silverman also co-owns Flatiron’s City Crab and Barbounia restaurants.

Little Sal’s will open as a pop-up in two weeks for a test run, and may remain open permanently depending on how well it does, Silverman said.

As for Chat ‘n Chew’s abrupt closure, Silverman said the team had known that they would be closing for a while, but hadn’t made it public.

“If people took a look at the place recently, they’d see that the staff was slowly kind of diminishing,” Silverman said.

“We’ve been in Union Square for a while, and we’re going to come back with energy,” he continued. “But [the concept] will be [in] keeping with the people who work and live in the neighborhood.”

It’s farewell to Souen on 13th St. It’s been around a very long time. Is more of the south side of the block doomed to be demolished?

Barnes & Noble has announced that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will kick off her national book tour for Hard Choices on Tuesday, June 10, at the Union Square Barnes & Noble (33 East 17th Street) in Manhattan. Secretary Clinton will sign copies of her new book beginning at 11:00 A.M.

A limited number of wristbands will be distributed starting at 8 A.M. on Tuesday, June 10, and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Customers will have their copies of Hard Choices signed in the order they arrive. A limit of one book per customer will be signed and the signing of other books or memorabilia will not be permitted.

Jooy Tea Shoppe has opened at 7 East 14th St. Enjoy.

Save it from commercial interests setting up shop at the north end of the park that is. Here are all the details.

Nom!, whatever that is, has signage up at University and 11th at the former site of Whitney Chemists. One can assume it will provide food of some sort, but no other details are available yet.