EAST VILLAGE — A spicy taste of the Caribbean has arrived at the East Village's shuttered 7A Cafe.
Miss Lily’s 7A Cafe, a Jamaican-themed restaurant with a location in SoHo, plans to launch its new spot Monday night with a menu and decor that will transport patrons to the Caribbean, said managing partner Paul Salmon.
Salmon also hopes the restaurant, at 109 Avenue A and East Seventh Street, will pay homage to the former 7A Cafe, a diner that closed in January.
“We want to honor the tradition of 7A and combine it with little Caribbean spice,” Salmon said.
The menu features some of the most popular dishes from Miss Lily's, including the jerk chicken, as well as made-to-order organic drinks from juice bar Melvin’s Juice Box, which will be located at the bar, Salmon said.
East Village-exclusive items will also be available, like diner-style sandwiches that recall 7A's menu, but with a Caribbean twist, said chef Adam Schop. The Avenue A eatery will also offer “Jerk Centre,” an a la carte grill selection that comes with a choice of jerk-spiced chicken, pork, shrimp, salmon or tofu and three Caribbean sides.
“I would say the menu is a little bit of our favorites from Miss Lily’s [and] a couple of dishes that we thought were relevant to 7A,” Schop said.
To wash it all down, patrons can order beer, wine or tropical-themed drinks from the restaurant’s cocktail menu, Salmon said.
Most menu items will cost less than $20, Schop said.
The restaurant's layout and furniture remain largely the same as when it was 7A Cafe, but everything has been draped in bright colors and prints.
“We’ve tried to keep the place itself pretty much intact,” Salmon said. “It’s more like a Caribbean take on the diner that was here before.”
“It’s like stepping out of New York and transporting yourself to the Caribbean and really feeling it," Salmon added, "whether it be by the food or the music or the good vibes or the colorful surroundings or the casual design. Really, all of these things are designed to transport you to the Caribbean.”
Miss Lily’s 7A Cafe will be open from 5 p.m. to midnight Sunday and Monday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, with a weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lunch hours will follow in the coming weeks.
