Last night the owner of East 4th Street's Perbacco went before Community Board 3's SLA Licensing Committee with a strange request:
"This summer a very wonderful thing happened. The New York Times' critic gave us a two star review. We now have a two star review, but we don't have a two star operation."
It turns out he wants to move his restaurant from the suddenly overcrowded, intimate space on 4th Street around the corner to the more expansive space at 46 Avenue B, formerly home to the ill-reputed Carne Vale. Problem is: he would have to move his liquor license, and CB3 was not having it.
The biggest problem for the community board was that the Avenue B space is in a "resolution area," meaning there is a moratorium on new licenses there (though transfers aren't automatically banned). It also seemed that the committee is dead set on never letting any restaurant open again on that "problematic" block. Ever.
An audience member or two also made the case that Team Perbacco simply isn't friendly enough. Not that they are bad neighbors, no. Community members complained that they didn't join the Block Association, the Merchants Association, didn't participate enough during a block party, and so on. Perbacco's owner and lawyer pulled the application and will return next month after gaining more community support.
We can't speak for the Brundog, but we assume the two stars were awarded for the overall experience, not simply the food. Change of locations for much bigger restaurants often merits re-reviews for that reason alone.
· Week in Reviews: Perbacco Gets the Deuce [~E~]
· First Word: CB3 Approves The Box, Supper, Denies Klimat, Spice, and Others [~E~]For more stories from Eater, go to eater.com.
