The 17th-century building at 71 Petergate is poised to reopen as a restaurant later this year.
The Grade-II listed site has had a chequered run of commercial success in recent years, having been cafes, a restaurant and delis for short spells.
Now it is set to re-open as a Japanese restaurant.
Hatsu One Limited is applying to the City of York Council for a premises licence for the property.
In its application, it states that it will be a Japanese restaurant selling food and alcohol, open seven days a week, from noon to 11.30pm.
The new restaurant will be the latest business to move into the premises in recent years.
Perhaps most memorably, it was home to Mr P’s Curious Tavern – an outpost of top North Yorkshire chef Andrew Pern and a sister venue to his popular Star Inn The City restaurant by the riverside, off Lendal Bridge, York.
2016: Andrew Pern (Star Inn chef) new venture in York , Mr P’s Curious Tavern, on Low Petergate. Picture Frank Dwyer.
Mr Pern is best known for his success at his flagship Michelin-starred restaurant, The Star Inn at Harome, near Helmsley.
Mr P’s in Petergate was said to “re-define the modern hostelry with imaginatively created dishes cooked by Michelin-trained chefs, often drawing on pub grub traditions”.
It opened in 2016 then never reopened following the pandemic lockdowns. It was one of at least 17 city centre businesses that closed their doors for good during this time.
Previous to that, 71 Petergate was Georgina’s cafe, and Mister Deli before then. It was also a Delifrance.
In more recent times it became a shop and café – The Tea Palace, which shut after just one year in business in September 2022, with the owner telling The Press he was closing because of spiralling costs and a growing ‘hen party culture’.
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The London-based tea company with a Barnsley manufacturing base sold at Harrods and the Orangery in Kensington Palace and had a takeaway tea menu of 180 different blends – the largest in Yorkshire and possibly the country.
On closing, the owner said: “The two-floor building is better suited for another multiple chain restaurant or pub.”
The site itself is of historical significance to York.
Formerly known as 45 Low Petergate, it was originally built as a house in the early 17th century and altered in the early 19th century.
A workshop extension was added to the rear in the 19th century and the building also has a 19th century shopfront, though this has been altered in the 20th century.
It lies within the city’s Central Historic Core Conservation Area and was once the home of celebrated York printer Thomas Gent.
