Peck's Arcade will be the city's newest venture

One of the vintage Peck's post cards.

The Tavern is not coming back to downtown Troy. However, Peck's Arcade is.

That is the name of the latest downtown commercial restoration project by the husband-wife team of Vic Christopher and Heather LaVine, the people behind the Lucas Confectionery & Wine Bar and The Grocery, a title just announced Wednesday.

The Tavern operated at the 217 Broadway site for about 60 years, until the 1990s. However, well before that a department store called Peck's Arcade did business there from 1883.  That title, and finding vintage post cards advertising the store, prompted the couple to revive that name for their veggie-heavy casual restaurant in the building they have fully restored.

Peck's Arcade, which is connected to hallways and a courtyard serving both their other businesses, will offer small plate dishes from Wednesday through Saturday, beginning next month. However, curious potential customers will be able to get a preview of the venue before the scheduled January 7 opening. That will be tonight, when Tavern Noodle, a pop-up noodle eatery that made its first appearance during the recent Victorian Stroll, will return at 5 p.m. and serve until food runs out. Nick Ruscitto is the head chef. You can see the pop-up menu here.

The latest look.

The building at 207-217 Broadway just off Monument Square, which Christopher and LaVine purchased in March 2013, extends for 10,900 square feet over four floors. The ground floor will be used for dining and bars in a rustic-industrial atmosphere. One of the adornments is the neon dining room sign that came from Spiak's, the recently-closed Watervliet restaurant icon.

The commercial history of the building actually predates Peck's Arcade.  It began as a boarding house, called Clark House, built in 1876. It had numerous small lodging rooms but only one bathroom. By 1894, it housed a collection of industrial, manufacturing and retail tenants, including Peck's Arcade on the ground floor.

Publicly, at least, opting for the Peck's Arcade name rather than reviving The Tavern name was a change of pace. There has been a Facebook page for The Tavern since the reconstruction project began, and that name has been the only public working title until this announcement. The Peck's Arcade page on Facebook was launched just two weeks ago. 

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