(Photo: M.P. Foss)

Yesterday we noticed that both Max Fish and Pies ‘n’ Thighs were slated to appear in front of Community Board 3’s liquor licensing committee next month. Today Ulli Rimkus, owner of Max Fish, confirms that she’s looking to take over the Gallery Bar space on Orchard Street and Sarah Sanneh, an owner of Pies ‘n’ Thighs, says she’s aiming to open an outpost on Canal Street.

Sanneh, a Lower East Sider who used to live on Division Street, said she’s been looking for something on her home turf for over a year. The empty storefront at 43 Canal, near Ludlow, is half the size of the Williamsburg spot, so “it’s going to have more of a lunch counter vibe with additional seating in the back,” she said. There’ll be an open kitchen, much like the restaurant’s old Kent Avenue location.

The menu will be similar, with “all the classics, a couple of newbies,” Sanneh revealed. “I feel like we’re pretty sandwich focused here and a lot of our specials are sandwiches. I think it’d be cool, with the lunch counter, to go heavy with the sandwiches, too. So maybe we’ll keep some of the specials, like the reuben, on all the time.” There’ll be beer, wine and delivery.

Yesterday we noted that the sleepy area around Seward Park has been perking up – something that hasn’t been lost on Sanneh. “It’s such a beautiful block and the other restaurants down there are so rad and we’re so happy to be in their company.”

Pies ‘n’ Thighs hopes to become part of the mix sometime around late summer.

As for Max Fish, Rimkus confirms that she’s trying to get a liquor license for the Gallery Bar space at 120 Orchard, but that doesn’t necessarily mean plans to reopen in Williamsburg plans are completely off the table. “We don’t know for sure,” she said.