Life After Corkbuzz: Varith?

ByDon

13th St.’s Corkbuzz has been closed for a year, and it looks like its sucessor, Varith, a new Thai restaurant, is set to open in the space. Renovations have just begun. A partnership between New York City Thai restaurant operators Top Thai and Valla Table has signed a 10-year lease.The deal includes 3,500 square feet on the ground floor, 1,000 square feet of basement space, and 2,500 square feet of lower-level space for a speakeasy-style lounge. Led by chef and operator Chuck Valla, the new restaurant will be named after Valla’s mother and represents “a deeply personal passion project for all parties involved,” Meridian said.

Here’s an interview with Chuck Valla. 

Here are some details from the liquor license application:

–Premises will be operated and advertised as a full-service Thai restaurant with the kitchen open and full menu items available until closing every night.
–Hours of operation will be 11 AM to 11 PM Sundays through Saturdays (7 days a week). All
patrons will be cleared and no patrons will remain after stated closing time.
–Will not operate as a Lounge, Tavern or Sports Bar or allow any portion of premises to be
operated in that manner.
–Will not operate a backyard garden or any other outdoor area for commercial purposes including any sidewalk café and/or roadbed seating.
–Will play recorded background music at conversational levels only so as not to cause a
disturbance in any adjacent residences at any time.
–Will not have televisions.
–Will close all doors and windows at all times, allowing only for patron ingress and egress.
–Will not have patron occupancy/service to any portion of the basement of licensed premises.
–Will not install or have French doors, operable windows or open facades.
–Will not make changes to the existing façade except to change signage or awning.
–Will comply with NYC Department of Buildings Regulations and will keep current at all times required Permits and Certificates
–Will not have unlimited drink or unlimited food and drink specials. Will not have “boozy
brunches.” No pitchers of beer.
–There will be no “bottle service” or the sale of bottles of alcohol except for the sale of bottles of beer or wine products
–Will not have dancing, DJ’s, live music, promoted events, any event where a cover fee is charged or any scheduled performances, velvet ropes or metal barricades or security personnel/doormen.

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  • Amazing Image!

    ByDon

    Our new neighbor Ann Roth tells us about this incredible image of the 14th St. building that she dug up:

    “I found the image on the web, where someone was selling a hand-colored print of the 14th Street facade, from a magazine that dates to 1891. So it clearly dates to that year (or earlier), not 1899, as all the real estate ads say. I ordered it, and they immediately took it off their site, so I can’t send you the link, but I copied the image first, so I’ve attached it. I must say, I wish it still had the fancy spire. The architects were D’Oench & Simon. Albert D’Oench studied in New York and Stuttgart, and then worked for Robert Morris Hunt (who designed the Metropolitan Museum’s facade) for a while. He was the NY Inspector of Buildings for five years, which seems to have mainly involved fire safety. After that, he had a successful architectural partnership with Albert (or Bernard?) Simon, and they designed and built several fire stations in New York. D’Oench later married the mayor’s daughter. Clearly a man with good connections. The plan calls it a “store building,” built it for Mrs. Mary S. Van Beuren, who was the granddaughter and heir of Henry Spingler (who I think has a building on Union Square named after him). She lived nearby, on 14th Street, just west of 5th, and seems to have been a bit of a sharp customer, to judge from some of the legal tussles I found when I searched her name on Google.”