Bernie Gonclaves, owner of Publick House in Mountainside, said he is doing the internal construction and plans to bring the location back to business after a two-year shutdown.
Bernie Gonclave |
He confirmed that he plans to lease the space from building owner Masoud Kian, who has been seeking to sell the related liquor license and rent out the location, but has had difficulty during the past year.
At that Township Commitee meeting, on June 23, the TC voted to reject a liquor license renewal request from Kian, who owns the property at 5 Highland Pl. and has also owned the liquor license that he purchased last year from the restaurant's former owner, Chris Farrow.
Gonclave is already renovating the former Highland Place site |
Kian said at the time he wanted to lease the space to someone who would run the business and utilize the liquor license. But his attorney, Nelson Montiero, told the TC in June he had been unable to do so. That is when the governing body voted to deny the renewal.
Inside Gonclave's Publick House in Mountainside |
That turned out to be Gonclave, a 41-year-old restaurant veteran who said he first started as a bar owner in Elizabeth at 22.
He said the new eatery will be similar to Publick House, which he opened in 2009, with "modern American food with Spanish influences. We are all about people really enjoying their time in a building that is comfortable."
Gonclave hopes to have live entertainment in the bar area and in the back as well as a party room, adding that he had not decided on a new name for the site.
Township officials said no formal application to transfer the liquor license has been made, but Gonclave said that will occur soon.
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