HELL’S KITCHEN — Bar Veloce plans to open its fifth outpost on Ninth Avenue by the end of the year.
Owner Frederick Twomey plans to open the new location in the space formerly occupied by Ralph’s Ristorante Italiano at 862 Ninth Ave., at the corner of West 56th Street, his attorney Max Bookman told Community Board 4 members on Tuesday.
Twomey opened the original Bar Veloce in the East Village in 2000, and now has outposts on Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, on Houston Street in the Village and in the JetBlue terminal at JFK Airport.
“Fred is a pioneer in the wine bar world,” Bookman said. “That’s now a very popular concept, and Fred was one of the first to do it.”
All of Bar Veloce’s locations serve a wide-ranging selection of wines, beers, cocktails and “Italian elixirs” paired with bites like bruschetta, panini and meat-and-cheese assortments, according to its website.
The Ninth Avenue outpost will close at 1 a.m. on weeknights, 2 a.m. on weekends and play only “very low background music,” Bookman noted.
“The idea is that you could have a conversation with someone,” he said.
Twomey hopes to open the venue by mid-December, Bookman added.
