Bar Veloce will replace Amaze Fusion and Lounge, the Asian fusion restaurant on Amsterdam between 82nd and 83rd Street that was once Sushi Hana.

By Alex Israel

Several new restaurants — including a wine bar and a farm-to-table spot — revealed their plans at a recent community board meeting about liquor licenses and sidewalk cafes. Nine bars and restaurants won unanimous approval from Community Board 7’s Business and Consumer Issues Committee for their plans. Liquor license applications will also need to be reviewed by the State Liquor Authority for final approval.

Bar Veloce will replace Amaze Fusion & Lounge at 466 Amsterdam Avenue between 82nd and 83rd Streets. With five existing locations throughout the city, owner Fred Twomey is excited to bring his “modern wine bar” to the Upper West Side. Construction will take place over the summer, and he expects to open by August. See the menu here.

Next door, a new yet-to-be-named “quality dining restaurant” from Danica, LLC will replace Hampton Chutney at 464 Amsterdam Avenue also between 82nd and 83rd. With planned hours from 7AM to midnight, they “want to become a neighborhood go-to spot for breakfast” with farm-to-table lunch and dinner service later in the day, according to the owner. They are hoping to open by September.

Galaxy will take over operations from Tom Colicchio’s ‘Wichcraft, the casual counter-service café in the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center on Broadway and 62nd. With experience as the exclusive caterer at institutions like Carnegie Hall, the New York Botanical Garden, and the New-York Historical Society, they plan to keep operations the same, but change up the menu to include tapas-style small plates.

The owner of Riposo 72 at 50 West 72nd Street is looking to rebrand after scaffolding on his street “put him out of business.” Riposo 72 is still up and running, but he is looking to “create something new” to reinvigorate the establishment and bring in new customers.

Il Gatto Nero, a new restaurant at 2758 Broadway between 105th and 106th Street is hoping to open up a new unenclosed sidewalk café once the weather improves. Committee members, having read our coverage about their naughty pizza, were thrilled to approve a footprint with 10 tables and 20 seats on the Broadway side, and 24 tables and 50 seats on the 106th Street side.

The Halal Guys at 720 Amsterdam Avenue at 95th is also on its way to opening a sidewalk café, with a footprint of twelve seats and three tables. Neighbors from Cleveland Arms, the apartment building around the corner at 205 West 95th Street, came out to express their concern about excess trash and noise that stem from the restaurant’s late-night crowd—but with the promise to “up the quality” of their garbage bags and increase their cleaning efforts, they won the approval of the CB7 committee.

The owner of the Viand Café at 2130 Broadway and the recently opened Viand Diner & Bar at 517 Columbus Avenue at 85th is looking to expand his footprint with new unenclosed sidewalk cafés. Owner Sammy Konstantakopoulos is looking forward to creating more space to serve more people. The amount of outdoor seating is to be determined as he will need to resubmit his architectural plans to comply with the committee’s guidelines.

Salumeria Rosi at 283 Amsterdam Avenue on the corner of 73rd Street is planning to change to smaller café tables to fit more seating within its existing sidewalk café. It will now have 15 tables and 30 seats.

A liquor license application for Bluestone Lane at 417 Amsterdam Avenue and an unenclosed sidewalk café renewal for Joe Coffee at 187 Columbus Avenue failed, as representatives for each failed to appear before the committee.

The full community board will vote on the nine approved applications during the next full board meeting on April 3, 2018.