Soothr, a Thai noodle bar, coming to the former Bruno Pizza space on 13th Street

Coming soon signage is now up at 204 E. 13th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue for (what looks like) Soothr, described as a "Thai Noodle & Bar" ...



Don't know anything else yet about this venture, other than what the sign notes: "From our hearty family recipes to your table."

The previous tenant here, Bruno Pizza, never reopened after an early morning fire broke out in the top-floor apartment last November. The fire caused extensive water damage to the pizzeria, which first opened in July 2015.

Post-fire renovations continue in the residential portion of landlord Steve Croman's building.

Thank you to EVG reader Laura K. for the tip!

Previously on EV Grieve:
The former Bruno Pizza space is for rent on 13th Street

The former Bruno Pizza space is for rent on 13th Street

The retail space at 204 E. 13th St. just east of Third Avenue is now on the market...



The asking monthly rent for the space — 1,300 square feet on the ground floor, with another 1,300 in the basement — is $12,950, per the listing.

The previous tenant here, Bruno Pizza, never reopened after an early morning fire broke out in the top-floor apartment last November. The fire caused extensive water damage to the pizzeria, which first opened in July 2015.

Sharon's Laundry Service was in the space before its restaurant conversion via landlord Steve Croman.

Bruno Pizza won't be reopening after fire upstairs last November

Last Thanksgiving weekend, an early morning fire broke out in the top-floor apartment at 204 E. 13th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. No injuries were reported in the blaze. (A cause has not been publicly revealed.)

The fire caused extensive water damage to Bruno Pizza on the ground floor. At the time, owner Demian Repucci told me that he was hopeful to get the restaurant up and running again.

Now, nearly eight months later, Repucci has decided that reopening the space wasn't feasible. He shared the news via Instagram earlier this month. Here's part of the message:

It is with a heavy heart that I bring you this news. The plethora of adversity that normally comes with running a restaurant was always made up for with the myriad amazing relationships I developed with you, the restaurant’s friends, neighbors, and pizza lovers. ...

But the water damage to the restaurant that resulted from the fire in the building upstairs has proven to be too much to overcome. After several months trying to figure out how to get the restaurant back on its feet, it seems recovery moved beyond my grasp.

So the difficult decision to close Bruno Pizza had to be made. The writing was on the wall. Or, rather, no longer on the wall (er... window). Thank you to everyone who came in, ate pizza, talked, drank, listened to my crazy stories, ate more pizza, and gave your love and support in spades. I appreciate it so very much.

I’m not sure another restaurant will ever be in my future, but pizza eating certainly will. As well as great conversation. So please do keep in touch.

[Photo from July 1]

Bruno Pizza, which milled its own flour, opened in July 2015. This was the first food establishment for Repucci, a restaurant designer-consultant.

Eater critic Ryan Sutton gave the restaurant's nouveau-Neapolitan pies high marks, with a post headlined "Bruno Is the Best Thing to Happen to Neapolitan Pizza Since Roberta's." Pete Wells at the Times was not so kind, dropping zero stars on the place. Two years after that punishing review (and after Bruno's original chefs left), Repucci offered to return the 0-star review to the Times.

In May 2016, Bruno Pizza won a judgment against a petition of eviction by landlord Steve Croman’s 9300 Realty.

Thanksgiving-weekend fire temporarily shutters Bruno Pizza on 13th Street

[Reader-submitted photo]

Early Friday morning, a fire broke out in the top-floor apartment at 204 E. 13th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The extent of the damage to the four-story building isn't known... several of the north-facing windows are boarded up...



The restaurant on the ground-floor level, Bruno Pizza, will be closed for the foreseeable future.

"There is extensive water damage in the restaurant," owner Demian Repucci told me via email. "But the biggest thing is that ConEd shut off the electricity, gas and water to the whole building.

"We're trying to figure out the situation and what it will take to get back up and running."

Bruno Pizza opened in July 2015.

According to Streeteasy, the building, owned by Steve Croman, has three residential units. The top- floor apartment includes four bedrooms, and last rented for $6,750, per the Streeteasy listings.

A sign on the building's front door notes that tenants are not to enter... there isn't any official vacate order posted from the city just yet...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Report of a fire at 204 E. 13th St.

Bruno Pizza, opening very soon on East 13th Street

Bruno Pizza is inching closer to opening at 204 E. 13th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.



We checked in with Demian Repucci, the restaurant designer-consultant who is launching his very own place with Bruno. He and his team held Bruno's first friends-and-family "super-secret, trial-and-error pizza party" on Saturday night. While the evening went very well, he says they still need to do some tweaking on their dough recipe and pizza-making process.

In any event, Repucci says that they will start serving pizzas this coming week.

Aside from pizza, the menu includes various pastas and salads... eventually the space will serve a tasting menu from his executive chefs Justin Slojkowski and Dave Gulino. (You can read more about all this over at Grub Street. Eater has more details here.)

Bruno was also OK'd for a liquor license, but there's still some paperwork pending. So no alcohol at the outset.

Meanwhile, Repucci has been posting photos of the menu items on his Instagram account …

Pizza test eleventy @brunopizzanyc

A photo posted by @demianrepucci on Jul 15, 2015 at 12:57pm PDT

There is a Bruno website with more information, though it doesn't appear fully functioning just yet.

More details on Bruno Pizza, opening early next year on East 13th Street

The buildout continues at 204 E. 13th St., just east of Third Avenue and across from the former Mystery Lot Jefferson.

Bruno Pizza is the new tenant. And Grub Street and Eater have more details on what first-time restaurateur Demian Repucci has planned for the space.

In addition to serving Neapolitan pizza, he has hired the two chefs who created the tasting menu at Box Kite Coffee on St. Mark's Place.

Per Eater:

Repucci is still working out all of the details, but for now, he plans to make the tasting menu a reservations-only option for just a handful of seats at the restaurant. The space is much larger than the tiny Box Kite, but to keep the intimate relationship between chefs and diners, Repucci built a 20 person bar looking into the kitchen and a few special seats right at the pass, where the chefs will cook.

As we reported back in May 2013, Repucci, a restaurant designer, planned to open his pizzeria at 223 First Ave., where Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery vacated. However, the lease fell through, and eventually Mee Noodle Shop moved in.