Incredible Greenwich Village hot spot Le Figaro Café is resurrecting with almost a similar name and ideally with the equivalent aesthetic vibe.
Veteran eatery man and previous model Mario Skaric will dispatch Figaro Café (without the “Le”) this spring at the first area, 184-186 Bleecker St. at the MacDougal Street corner.
“It will give recognition to the most renowned inhabitant that was there and we’ll make it more upscale,” Skaric said.
Le Figaro Café opened in 1957 and turned into a VIP draw under a few unique proprietors until it shut in 2008. It drew Beat Generation pioneers, for example, Jack Kerouac and Lenny Bruce during the 1950s and mid ’60s, and later, geniuses Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Al Pacino. A scene from Pacino’s “Carlito’s Way” was recorded there in 1993.
The restoration’s a spirit promoter for the Village, where the pandemic has cleared out scores of darling eating and drinking spots. The Bleecker-MacDougal corner stays energetic despite the fact that the Figaro site has been empty for a very long time. A New York Times blog entry regretted “The Lost Mystique of Le Figaro Café” when it shut in August 2008.
The explanation it remained dim from that point onward, clarified Meridian Capital’s James Famularo who spoke to the two sides in the new rent, was that the landowner kept on getting rent from the last inhabitant, Qdoba Mexican Eats, for quite a long while after the end.
The approaching rent for the new Figaro Café, which flaunts 2,500 square feet on the ground level in addition to 1,500 square feet underneath, was $220 per square foot. Asked what the genuine lease was, Famularo stated, “If a landowner today isn’t very adaptable, an arrangement isn’t occurring.” He said it included “a profound rebate for the initial two years.”
Skaric recently dealt with Manhattan’s Seafire Grill and Benjamin Steakhouse Prime. His new residence will have 120 indoor seats. Yet, he noticed that its genuine strength may be 125 feet of walkway facade of different sides of the intensely dealt corner, which ought to give abundant outdoor dining paying little heed to when indoor dining can continue.
Unfortunately, no inside follows stay of the first Figaro. “It was scoured when it shut,” Skaric said. Yet, he expected to incorporate a “respect” to it with unique big name photos from its prime and maybe different ancient rarities in the event that he can discover them.
“By and large it will be somewhat present day, yet warm and welcoming with American food,” he said.