Community Board 8 held its Street Life Committee meeting on Tuesday evening. Restaurant owners and their reps attended via Zoom in order to further their liquor license applications, and we learned about several new spots opening on the Upper East Side.
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The former owners of August, the now-closed new American restaurant at 791 Lexington Avenue (between 61st and 62nd streets), are planning to return to the neighborhood on a smaller scale.
“So we are planning a small cafe with about 16 seats inside, a little counter, but no bar seating,” said Chef Nils Noren. He went on to describe his upcoming restaurant at 145 East 62nd Street (between Third and Lexington avenues) as a “very simple operation” with a menu “focus[ed] on baked goods, salad, sandwiches, versions of waffles and three simple main courses.”
Proposed hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. “This is just so we can come back to the neighborhood. But [it will] be much more simple. Not a full service restaurant in that sense. We’re hoping to get eight seasonal seats outside.” The new spot, whose business name is listed as East 62nd Café LLC.
READ MORE: A New Colombian Restaurant on Lex
A new Vietnamese restaurant will be opening at 306 East 81st Street (between First and Second avenues). This was the original Sandro’s location, which closed in early 2022. Sandro’s has since relocated to 322 East 86th Street.
The name of the forthcoming eatery has not been disclosed, but the name of the business is Get Go Pho Corp. According to a legal representative, the space is currently under renovation and is expected to be complete in about two months. The restaurant’s proposed hours are 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and it will be indoor dining only with light background music.
The legal rep mentioned that they’re applying for a full liquor license and that the owner “wants to serve the same menu same drinks that are available at the other restaurants.”
The owner – Michael Lien, according to a liquor license application – also runs three other restaurants (two in Manhattan and one in Queens). One of those restaurants appears to be District Saigon (which was originally called District Mot) in Astoria, though we’re not sure about his Manhattan eateries.
