Food and Things » wine bar

Upper West Side: Telepan’s New Wine Bar in Doubt

Laura Weiss — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:00:19 +0000

Veteran Upper West Side chef and restaurateur Bill Telepan is throwing cold water on reports that he hopes to open a wine bar on Columbus Avenue.

Photo: http://www.telepan-ny.com/gallery.htmColumbus Avenue.

Last week, the New York Times reported that the chef was actively looking at the space that was once occupied by Elite Cafe on Columbus Avenue between 68th and 69th streets. The location is right around the corner from Telepan’s existing eatery at 72 W. 69th Street.

But now, the plan to open a wine bar seems to be up in the air.

“I’m not locked in,” Telepan said in a phone interview, adding “I may walk away from it in the next week or two.”

Telepan said he’s trying to raise money and that he’s talking to his lawyers about the expansion plan. One reason it may be in doubt, at least for right now, is that the chef expects commercial rents in the area to continue to soften.

“Space will become available,” he predicts. “Rentals will be a bit more reasonable” in the coming months.

Upper West Side: Bill Telepan is Opening a Wine Bar

Laura Weiss — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:48:07 +0000

Update: Upper West Side: Telepan’s New Wine Bar in Doubt

: Photo: http://www.telepan-ny.com/default.htm

The New York Times reports that Bill Telepan is planning to open a wine bar in the former Elite Cafe space at 185 Columbus Ave. According to the Times, Telepan and a partner are still working out the details of the new place which could open by the end of the year.

For years, Telepan has been an advocate of the idea that the Upper West Side need not be a dining dessert. His restaurant, Telepan, was one of the earliest upscale spots with inventive cooking to open in the area.

Upper West Side: Wine Bar to Open in Former Docks Space in October

Laura Weiss — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:30:09 +0000

The former Docks space on Broadway will become the Upper West Side branch of Academia di Vino, according to General Manger John Fanning, who says the new eatery is scheduled to open in October. The wine bar and eatery already boasts an East Side location at 1031 3rd Ave at 64th Street.

With a restaurant going into the former Docks space, the steady march of drugstores up and down Broadway will be taking a pause.

Habitues of Docks will feel right at home, says Fanning. The layout of the new place will be a nearly identical “but somewhat smaller” version of the East Side locale, he explains.

“That worked for 23 years, so why change it?” remarks West Sider Fanning of the familiar Docks dining room.

There will be a bar, dining room tables and high bar tables. Pizza, pasta, crudo, salumi and other Italian standbys on Academia di Vino’s East Side menu will appear on the West Side version as well.

Academia di Vino

2427 Broadway

New York, NY