Progress Report: Cafe Katja Expansion on Orchard

Settle down overzealous foodies, Cafe Katja will return to its rightful place in due course. Remodeling definitely got off to a delayed start at 79 Orchard Street, but progress is now fast and furious.

As reported earlier this spring, the popular Austrian eatery is presently amidst an expansion into the adjacent storefront, formerly the Still Life boutique. Letters announcing the closure had initially appeared way back in April, but those signs were quickly removed after our report; Cafe Katja remained open. It wasn’t until June that closure and subsequent interior demolition between the two addresses actually began. We stopped by for a checkup over the weekend and caught contractors installing the new garage-like facade. Not to mention a full view of the current state of construction, thanks to an absence of the usual brown paper.

But we weren’t the only curious parties at that mid-afternoon moment. This youngster wanted to understand what they were doing here and why.

By knocking down the wall, Cafe Katja is roughly doubling the size of the dining room. It’s gonna be much roomier – additional twelve seats and twenty-four-foot bar. The space itself was also approved for its own liquor rights. Indeed, team Katja appeared before Community Board 3 for an alteration to include this new annex. Expect a grand reopening sometime in August.