Rumor: McNally’s ‘Cherche Midi’ to Close by Summertime
Posted on: March 21st, 2018 at 5:05 am by Elie

Cherche Midi, circa 2016
Renowned restaurateur Keith McNally last week sold his West Village townhouse for $10.3 million. Elsewhere, his Bowery hangout is rumored to shutter.
Word on the street is that Cherche Midi, the three-year-old successor to Pulino’s Pizzeria is on the way out. A tipster tells us that management began telling staff of the impending closure – expected to happen this summer – sometime last week. It’s unclear at the moment, however, the reasoning behind the rumored shutdown.
This corner is seemingly a tough sell, despite the hyper pace of upscaling happening in its midst. Perhaps the Bowery still has some fight.

Before Pulino’s, Sep. 2008
Keith McNally first arrived at the southwest corner of East Houston and the Bowery back in the summer of 2008. His stake to the ground space caused quite a stir at the time, especially the imported “Outsiders” art show that inspired a “Slacktivist” protest. It’s believed that the so-called McNally effect helped further gentrify the area, and certainly paved the way for establishments like Pearl & Ash, Rebelle, and Cata; or Rag & Bone to enter the scene at the expense of Cafe Colonial. Pulino’s would debut in the spring of 2010, after nearly two years under construction; it lasted another three years until its end in December 2013.
Advertisement
Recent Stories

Electeds Descend Upon Chinatown to Rally Against Hate
In the aftermath of a string of (potential) anti-Asian crimes across the city, several hundred people attended a rally as a show of support. It was held in Foley Square, not far from the incident last Thursday, in which a random attack on a Chinese man with an eight-inch kitchen knife left him clinging to life in a […]

‘Best Wingers’ has Flown the Coop on Delancey Street
Best Wingers has flown the coop. The Lower East Side chicken joint, an offshoot of the decades-old Murray Hill restaurant, recently closed its Delancey Street location. A large lease sign currently hangs in the windows. Sum told, Best Wingers spent nigh on three years here at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge. It had signed […]

Mi Salsa Kitchen Now Serving Cuban Cuisine on Allen Street
The Lower East Side now boasts a new Cuban restaurant in its restaurant ranks. Mi Salsa Kitchen opened last week at the southeast corner of East Houston and Allen Streets, serving up self-proclaimed “authentic Cuban cuisine.” The restaurant is currently open for walk-in dining and fulfilling takeout orders. Also via Grub Hub and Seamless. Current […]

Seward Park Now Bookended by Fast Food Crab Restaurants
Crab cuisine is now du jour in the Seward Park environs, which is bookended by such fast food joints. Two seemingly identical establishments. Seafood chain Crab Du Jour planted a flag at the former La Flaca on Grand Street earlier this year, and should open in the coming days. At the same time, just a […]

Cops Offer Reward for Info on Clinton Street Shooting Suspect
Police are now offering a reward for information in connection with the road rage shooting on Clinton Street last month that injured a 75-year-old bystander. At approximately 11:55am on February 16, a motorist driving what was reported to be a black BMW sedan turned right onto Clinton Street from Delancey, narrowly missing a pedestrian. Cops […]

City Finally Releases East River Park Resilience Study, but with Heavy Redactions
It took three years and the accompanying community pressure for the city to finally release a critical report on the East River Park reconstruction plan, which it initially claimed did not exist. The Value Engineering Study, as it’s called, was the report Mayor de Blasio cited in 2018 when announcing the sudden change in the […]

Unprovoked Stabbing on Worth Street has Chinatown on Edge
In an apparently random attack yesterday evening, a 36-year-old Chinese man was stabbed in the back, and severely injured, by Brooklyn resident Salman Muflihi. The attacker wielded an eight-inch knife in the incident outside the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse on Worth Street, then surrendered at the entrance of the Manhattan DA’s office on Hogan Place. […]

Uncapped: In Conversation with Clayton Patterson and Cochise
Oh hey, Boogie Faithful, it’s your favorite historian here announcing our new graf-related podcast. We’ve done a few episodes, literally, and for the latest, Clayton Patterson has come out of his Boogie corner. We chatted, we laughed, we discussed some esoteric, anecdotal and priceless Lower East Side history. Local native and artist Jose “Cochise” Quiles also […]

Jing Fong Waiters Urge Landlord to Reinstate Dining Room
Chinatown shook to its core last weekend upon news that Jing Fong is closing down its massive dining room next week (March 7). The restaurant will continue operating as a ghost kitchen to fulfill orders for takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining on its patio. They’re reportedly on a month-to-month lease. “With our drastic decline in […]

Small Business Owners ‘Permanently Close’ to Demand COVID Relief
Local small business groups, along with the Cooper Square Committee, East Village Community Coalition, and Village Preservation are hosting a rally today in the name of economic survival. It’s part of a statewide week of activism to find commercial rent relief in the city. With that, businesses who fear forever closure due to rent burdens […]