Casimir, the French bistro on Avenue B near Seventh Street, was on Monday's CB3/SLA agenda for a transfer. Our friends at East Village Eats have learned that owner Guillaume Blestel has sold the restaurant. EV Eats talked with some of the employees this past weekend "and not much is known about the new owner." One piece of info: Turns out that the new owner is also behind Midtown East-based restaurant/lounge comboLéa.
Never heard of it. Per New York magazine:
Small tables house an after-work crowd early in the evening, enjoying better-than-average bar fare from the kitchen, including sushi, bruschetta, and crab cakes. As the night wears on, the darkness deepens and the music—contemporary hip-hop and house beats that don't quite fit the lounge-y décor gets louder.
Anyway, no word yet if the new owner plans to keep things the same or turn the place into another Midtown East outpost... like too many other places already around here.
very sorry to hear this. wonder why they sold.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was a condo building. I also thought that people who owned condos had a say in what goes in the commercial spaces, but after hearing the story about the people who live above the Mason Dixon bar on Essex Street I see that it's not the case.
ReplyDeleteThese landlords are destroying our neighborhood. The tenants need to confront the landlord.
I used to live in the building, it's all rentals. Business at Casimir has slowed down significantly in the past few years & I heard that the owner was actually using his own money to keep the restaurant afloat for the past few months.
ReplyDeleteI guess he'll be concentrating more on this other restaurant & music venue Zebulon in Williamsburg.
I'm very sorry to hear this. I live nearby and have been eating and drinking at Casimir since it opened. The last thing we need in this neighborhood is another generic lounge for b&t creeps, invested in, designed by and DJed by b&t creeps. Please, please, please keep your tacky faux-Japanese maki and your "house beats" in midtown!
ReplyDeleteCome on people, oppose this transfer! We don't need more obnoxious loud music late into the night on Ave B in spaces that pretend to be restaurants. The new owners should have gotten that transfer before they bought the business!
ReplyDeleteUGH. the backyard of this place is going to be frighteningly loud if i think what's going to happen is going to happen. and that sound bounces off the bldgs all the way down the block of our connected "backyards"... UGH.
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