A peek inside the space that could become Tessa.
Launching a restaurant in New York almost always takes longer than the owner initially estimates; two local spots that we’ve been anticipating for months are finally making progress toward opening.
A new restaurant is set to open at 349 Amsterdam Avenue (between 76th and 77th street), the old location of Time Out sports bar, which closed in 2008. This one’s been percolating for a while. We first got wind of the restaurant two years ago, and it received a recommended approval for a liquor license from the community board in April 2013. At that time, owner Lawrence Bellone planned to call it Tessa, and serve high-end Italian food. Bellone wanted to keep it open until 4 a.m. every night, but the community board agreed to let him stay open that late only on Friday and Saturday and until 2 a.m. the other nights (still pretty late for the neighborhood). Time Out, some community members said, was a nuisance.
Bellone agreed to the time changes, according to community board records, and pledged to make the spot a high-end destination for people attending events nearby: “We’re not looking for a rowdy crowd, but there are high end events [at the Beacon], like Sting’s birthday and I would have loved them to come to our restaurant,” Bellone said.
Bocca di Bacco, an Italian restaurant with locations in Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and the Theater District, is opening on 74th street and Columbus Avenue, in the former home of Footlights Shoes. Here is the chain’s dinner menu. It’s a somewhat higher-end spot, with pastas for about $18 to $20.
Diners at its Hell’s Kitchen spot seem to like the cozy ambiance. New York magazine has good things to say: “Bocca calls itself a wine bar, which explains the 40 selections by the glass, the mixed olives, the meat and cheese plates, and the little nibbles like rice balls and marinated sardines. But its identity as a full-fledged, neighborhood-friendly Italian restaurant is substantiated with pastas like chestnut lasagnette with chickpeas and sausage, and entrées like lamb shank.”
The old Footlights windows have been papered over in preparation for the opening. The restaurant will present an application for a liquor license to the community board on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at 250 West 87th street. It had already received approval from the board for a license, but is apparently seeking changes. Bocca di Bacco was one of the 16 new and upcoming restaurants we highlighted last year.
Cafes are our real living rooms. We pay rent there.
Please note:
Bocca di Bacco’s dinner menu looks quite promising and authentic!
Most importantly, please do NOT confuse this restaurant with that Buca di Beppo NATIONAL CHAIN of suburban Italian-STYLE eateries (they even have a branch in the theater district to offer the scared tourists a comforting taste-of-home).
How tacky is that strip-mall chain? Well, its website features a rendition of Michaelangelo’s David WEARING A FIG-LEAF !!
Just what we need more italian food and wine bars. How about something different .. Good luck to the small bsuiness owners I’m wishing you the best, but it’s a crowded market !
New York City, if you care about small businesses and growing our economy, how about streamlining the permitng and approval process. As it stands, dozens of approvals and sign offs must be gotten and an army must be hired to deal with it. this all ads to the costs of opening doors. Also every month of delay means another month of rent with no income.
I live on 67 & Columbus. The Starbucks ($$$) by me is always packed. PACKED. From 6am till closing. So is every Star-$$$$s I see in the UWS. All the commenters on the site bemoan the harm to small business in the UWS but they’re not voting with their feet, or dollars. If u want burned coffee for $4, buy beans, horribly burn them, brew your own coffee, leave it on the stove till its more burned, then drink. And set three dollar bills on fire. There, I saved u a trip to star-$$$$s.