‘Vida Buena’ Courts Cata Space on the Bowery
Cata has been dead barely three months, and already a replacement is in the wings at 245 Bowery. Next up is a new hangout called Vida Buena, which is Spanish for “the good life.”
Principals behind this new 23-table venture are Michael Parish and Gloria Pope, neither of whom have previously been licensed by the State Liquor Authority. According to their liquor license application submitted to Community Board 3, the proposed concept will have an occupancy of 93 with 16 bar stools, and boasts a menu of sandwiches, salads, and sides.
Cata debuted at 245 Bowery (corner of Stanton) in September 2012 on a bed of local controversy. Alta owners Ewa Olsen and Chris Chesnutt had initially conceived the concept two years earlier as SRO given the location in the ground floor of the still-active Sunshine Hotel (flophouse). That didn’t sit well with the community and the name eventually morphed. Just over six years later – in January 2019 – the place went belly up.
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