‘Peasant’ will Close Down After 2 Decades on Elizabeth Street [Updated]
Come December, Peasant will be gone.
Word on the street is that the lease is up at 194 Elizabeth Street, and co-owner Frank DeCarlo reportedly decided against renewal. Apparently it’s not a case of being pushed out, either.
Consistently a critics’ darling, Peasant was founded in 1999 by John LaFemina and Frank DeCarlo. It initially brought a more “elevated” (i.e. expensive) style of Italian restaurant to greater Little Italy. The two partners also had fingerprints on several other Lower East Side ventures at the time (The Orchard, Apizz), albeit separately. But only Bacaro on Division Street survives to this day.
LaFemina was bought out in 2007.
More recently, Peasant had become more of a tourist trap thanks to high marks on Trip Advisor.
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