The successful Brooklyn-based hospitality team behind Sauced and others is looking to open a “café and wine bar” in the East Village.
The concept called Sauced Grocer is slated to offer sandwiches by day and bar snacks with beer and wine by night. Sauced’s Damien del Rio and partner Vincent Marino are seeking the ground floor and basement space of the mixed-used building at 47 Second Avenue to house the new concept.
Sauced Grocer is slated to offer 10 tables with 30 seats, as well as one 13-foot stand up bar with four seats and one 11-foot bat with two seats, with anticipated hours of noon until midnight from Sunday through Wednesday and noon until 2 a.m. from Thursday through Saturday.
Its proposed menu includes daytime sandwiches such as a grilled cheese sandwich with pickled peppers, a pulled pork coleslaw sandwich with pickles, and a spicy meatball sandwich with olives, and evening menu with bar snacks including oysters, charcuterie and cheese, and homemade focaccia with olives and Calabrian peppers.
Four Happy Men Hospitality debuted their daring wine bar concept Sauced in Williamsburg in 2020. The team is also behind Loosie’s Kitchen and Etiquette. They were also behind now-defunct Loosie Rouge.
Del Rio has said that he sought to disrupt the traditional wine bar space when opening Saucer back in 2020.
“We really want to flip the wine bar world on its head,” del Rio told Eater.
Their unique 40-seat casual wine bar concept has a 150-bottle wine list, as well as 20 wines by the glass, as well as small plates ranging from pork belly pinxtos to tortilla chips with whipped crème fraiche. It also has a disco dance room in the back, as well as a backyard space with games such ping pong and backgammon.
