Foodies, rejoice! The century-old Naples, Italy pizzeria L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, featured prominently in the Elizabeth Gilbert book (and movie adaptation) “Eat, Pray, Love,” will come to New York in a 5,600-square-foot space at 2 Bank Street in Greenwich Village this winter. The asking rent for the 12-year lease was $150 per square foot.
The location will include a ground-floor lounge featuring a specialty coffee bar and salumeria selling meats, cheeses and wines; a main dining room anchored with a wood-fired pizza oven and a subterranean, temperature-controlled wine cellar level. The restaurant will import its core ingredients from Italy, with the dough for each pizza double-fermented for at least hours.
This will mark L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele’s third location, following its 1870 inception in Italy and subsequent Los Angeles outpost opening in 2019. The restaurant will occupy 2,800 square feet on the ground floor and 2,800 square feet on the lower level, which was previously occupied by Spanish restaurant Barraca.
“With the increasing availability of COVID-19 vaccinations and expanding indoor capacity limits, our restaurant scene is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Brad Schwarz, executive managing director and principal in the retail brokerage division of Lee & Associates NYC. He represented the landlord, Sky Management Corp., along with James Ficelman, associate of Lee & Associates NYC. “Restaurateur Francesco Zimone and his team — which helmed the Los Angeles opening — will benefit from Greenwich Village’s renowned, trafficked restaurant scene.”
Piero Massimino and Francesco Cirillo of Ubiq New York represented the tenant.
