Cafe Mogador Owners to Open EV Bar

The new venture from Cafe Mogador's owners is reportedly named Matbucha and will be located just down the street from the original restaurant. The concept is a bar focused on drinks and small plates, intended to complement Cafe Mogador rather than compete with it for dinner and brunch crowds. Co-owner Danny Orlin emphasized it will be "a bar — not a restaurant," offering a different, more toned-down atmosphere. Cafe Mogador was founded in 1983 by Rivka Orlin and has become an East Village institution, pioneering Moroccan-inspired cuisine in the city. It expanded to a second location in Williamsburg and is still operated by the same family, with Orlin's son Danny and his cousin Jacob Ahiyon now running daily operations. The restaurant is known for its award-winning brunch and long lines, a neighborhood fixture for over four decades. The new bar will occupy the space that formerly housed East Village Social. The building at 126 St. Mark's Place was constructed in 1920 and contains 24 residential units above the commercial space. St. Mark's Place itself has a rich counter-cultural history, once home to influential clubs like The Five Spot and the Electric Circus, which hosted acts like Thelonious Monk and The Velvet Underground. The block has long been a hub for music, art, and vibrant street life, evolving from the center of "Kleindeutschland" in the 19th century to a punk and hippie haven in the 20th. The owners envision the new bar as a welcoming spot for the community and a place for Mogador patrons to wait for their tables. Rivka Orlin described it as "a place where we can meet friends, people from all ages can sit, have a nice meze, a nice drink." While a flexible timeline is in place, the owners hope to be operational in about eight months.