July 22, 2015 By Christian Murray
Marlene Tavern, a Sunnyside/Woodside wine bar, has been sold to a long-time employee of the Copper Kettle.
Jonathan Cordeiro bought the 41-11 49th Street café/bar from Kandi Kitich, who put it on the market in April. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
The establishment, which Kitich opened as Café Marlene in 2010, is currently closed while Cordeiro renovates it. He plans to reopen the café/bar in about a month.
Cordeiro, who worked at the Kettle for 17 years, will be working full time at the location alongside his wife, Maria Pasada Duque.
Cordeiro said that he plans to change the name of the café/bar, although he has yet to come up with a name. He said that the bar will have a totally different concept than what Kitich was offering.
Kitich was known for offering crepes and hosting artistic events. The café was also serving Slovenian cuisine at the time it was sold.
Kandi and Ana Kitich
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22 Comments
Congratulations Jonathan. Terrific bartender at the Kettle for years. Great to see you and your wife getting your own place. Very Beat of Luck.
Music Maestro! Please!
I’m sorry to see the Kitich sisters go. They were very welcoming and had great food and wine. I hope this isn’t going to be another Irish pub…nothing against them but we have enough already.
Jacks open again yeah
Please let it be a good cafe!!!
I will miss this place. They supported lost of local artist with events like poetry reading, classical music, jazz. Crepes were the best.
Best of luck to you.. You were always great at the kettle and I’m sure you will be even better here.. Look forward to stopping in.
My 6-year-old daughter loved going to Marlene’s. Anna and Kandi treated her like a VIP when making her hot chocolate to order. She learned about using money in order to pay, counting change, and leaving a tip there. She will miss the place. I hope the new owners serve hot chocolate and coffee.
best of luck to the best bartender in the hood!
Best wishes on the new place! Hopefully they will be able to incorporate a performance space to feature local artists of diverse genres. Perhaps a “speakers night” where locals can rant about the kinds of things they rant about on here, brown bags with eye, nose and mouth slits available for commentators who want to remain anonymous. It would be called “Sunnyside Post Night”!
“Tonight’s topic: PJ Horgan’s to be demolished for luxury condo building. Owner says four ground-floor retail spaces have already been leased to three nail salons and a TD Bank.” I can see the crowds now!
How’s it going to be creative or different than the rest of the other shite here currently, when someone is coming from 17 years worth of the bland tasteless food and drinks at the copper kettle? That’s all they learned there was shite!
Sunnyside needs another gay bar. Jack’s Fire Dept is a great gay venue but I’d like to see another neighborhood option.
Jack’s Fire Dept is a gay bar??!!
@sunnysideup the only person who could even qualify for the title of “bigger idiot” than avoidthenoid is you.hahaha
That place was shady and too expensive, I hope something more inviting and creative opens up.
The place for you was shady serving crepes and hosting art events, you must be joking 🙂
Glad it will still be a local spot and not a chain. Here’s hoping the “totally different concept” does not mean another pub like Copper Kettle, Globe Tavern, and Murphy’s – they’re all good, but we’ve got plenty of that concept on the street already. Cafe Marlene/Marlene Tavern provided a nice variety.
I see the headline was changed after my previous comment.
Congratulations.
It’s not just a new name as the headline states; it’s an entirely new establishment. Towards the end of the article it says it will be “a totally different concept than what Kitich was offering.”
Wow cool, best of luck to Jonathan and Maria! I hope they have outdoor seating… Skillman gets kinda annoying.