by Thomas MacMillan | Feb 19, 2013 8:44 am

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Posted to: Food, Downtown

More than two years after Jason Sobocinski abandoned plans to open an outpost of his popular bistro on Whitney Avenue, he’s setting up a new operation in the old Richter’s bar on Chapel Street.

Earlier this month, a liquor permit request notice appeared on the door of the shuttered watering hole, bearing Sobocinski’s name, slightly misspelled.

Sobocinski (pictured), who runs the popular Caseus Fromagerie and Bistro at the corner of Trumbull and Whitney, offered the following brief statement:

“We’re here to take over the old Richter’s space, restore it and turn it into a nice place for a relaxing drink in a beautiful atmosphere steeped in New Haven history. We’re keeping it secret for now until our Grand Opening! But we can tell you that this will not be any ordinary bar by any means. Think relaxed, adult, nostalgic, and 100 percent New Haven.”

Richter’s closed in June 2011. Owner Dieter vonRabenstein said he was no longer able to make ends meet in a tough recession. Richter’s had opened in 1983, in a space that featured 150-year old carved woodwork.

On Monday, workers could be seen through papered-over windows at the location, preparing the bar for a new life. Richter’s is next door to Shake Shack, the trendy fast food joint that opened last year amid much fanfare.

Sobocinski tried in 2010 to open a tavern on Whitney Avenue, called Bibere. The company listed on the liquor permit request notice (pictured) in Richter’s window is Bibere, LLC. Sobocinski, his brother Thomas, and Caseus manager Timothy Cabral are listed as the corporation’s principals on a state database.

Plans for Bibere on Whitney Avenue fell through because it turned out to be a more expensive proposition than expected, Sobocinski said in November, 2010. The Board of Zoning Appeals had approved the plan over the opposition of some East Rock neighbors. Sobocinski is unlikely to face the same push-back downtown.