Thursday, March 12, 2015

Starting work to bring Black Seed bagels to the former De Robertis space on 1st Avenue



An EVG reader notes that a dumpster is in place outside 174-176 First Ave., where there are now approved work permits to renovate the former De Robertis Pasticceria and Caffe.

As previously reported, the owners of Black Seed bagels are opening a cafe/shop here just south of 11th Street.

In several interviews (here and here) since the news broke about the new tenant, Noah Bernamoff and Matt Kliegman, the owners of the popular Montreal-style bagel shop on Elizabeth Street, have reiterated their commitment to keep as much of the original architectural elements intact as they can, including the tin ceiling and hand-cut penny tile floors.

The work permit simply notes the "installation of new counters, fixtures and finishes in existing store." The total estimated total cost of the renovations is $318,900, per the DOB.

The 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe closed this past Dec. 5 after 110 years in business. The economy, age and health reportedly compelled the four De Robertis siblings to sell the building.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Black Seed bringing bagels to the former DeRobertis space on 1st Avenue (43 comments)

A last look at De Robertis before its conversion to Black Seed bagels

6 comments:

NOTORIOUS said...

Looking forward to checking them out.

Anonymous said...

@10:26am

I don't know about you. But I'd be willing to pay an extra $3 a bagel just for the taupe ambiance.

Anonymous said...

I rarely eat bagels, maybe they will serve something besides bagels.

Scuba Diva said...

Not having had Montreal-style bags in a long, long time, I feel like I'm being teased to death—preliminary to a letdown.

Also, does anyone else suspect they may actually be doing a gut-renovation of the space, and then will apologize, saying, "Sorry; we tried, but it was too hard to preserve the interiors, so everything had to be replaced after all."

It's happened before.

Anonymous said...

Scuba Diva is correct, it has happened before. So the Black Seed Dudes should consider it a challenge: Show us how good you are! Do this the right way.

Bill Koehnlein said...

What's the difference between Montreal-style bagels and New York-style bagels? Is it something like the difference between Belgian fries and French fries? I.e., price?