Welcome to Year in Eater 2020, Eater’s annual ritual to praise the past 12 months. In the last days of 2020, Eater NY will post questions about the New York City restaurant scene last year, with responses from food writers, photographers, chefs, restaurant owners, businessmen and even some local lawmakers who helped support the industry through this extremely difficult year. Now, we ask: What was the saddest restaurant closure of 2020?
Eric Adams, president of the Brooklyn neighborhood: There are too many to count.
Clay Williams, food photographer and co-founder of Black Food Folks: Honestly, I tried not to keep an eye on the list of ongoing closings, it’s all very terrible. But, hearing about The 21 Club, Blue Smoke and Franklin Park, just this month was pretty awful. They all have specific places in my personal history as a cafeteria and on the sector coverage. It is difficult to imagine this city if they were not there, or what could take their places.
Kat Kinsman, senior editor, Food and Wine: Each closure was painful because, whether or not you went to a place, it meant the loss of livelihood for so many invisible people with nowhere to turn. On a personal level, Gotham and Blue Smoke were key places in my now rather long term management as a restaurant in New York and I felt some severe pain. Like a collective tragedy – so many restaurants in Chinatown. They are living history, they are culture, they are community and have been overthrown by a lethal combination of economics and xenophobia. It is deeply disheartening and I am very grateful to Grace Young for all she is doing with the #savechineserestaurants movement to raise awareness of the humanity behind the meals that many of us consider natural.
Jennifer Tam, co-founder of a non-profit organization Welcome to Chinatown: Hop Shing was a devastating and unexpected success for Chinatown. They have served generations of Sino-American families since 1973. A visit to Hop Shing was like traveling back in time to its early days; I would be surrounded by Chinese newspapers, cups of tea and small plates of dim sum, and elderly people chatting with friends.
Carlina Rivera, NYC Council member: I’m really sad about Rosario’s closing on Stanton Street. I grew up down the street from there, and I can’t tell you how many memories I have of eating a slice with friends there at 3 am after a long night. You would sit by the window and everyone who passed would clearly agree that you were doing exactly the right thing at that time.
Priya Krishna, food writer and author of the best-selling cookbook Indian: Glady’s. I’ve been having their slushies and jerk since I moved here, and that menu translated so well to ready food. I will miss it so much.
Emma Orlow, writer for New York Times, Bon Appétit and Eater: Ugh, it’s so hard to choose just one. They are all incredibly devastating, especially knowing that it would be preventable if the government really cared about saving small businesses and their employees. The closure of the Tamra Tea House was definitely sad.
Fabián von Hauske Valtierra, chef and co-owner of Contra e Wildair: Uncle Boons.
Brad Hoylman, New York state senator: Certainly, something that also stands out for me is the story of the young restaurateur who moved here from Colorado to pursue his dream of opening the Banty Rooster on Greenwich Avenue and then having to close it because his landlord did not renegotiate the rent when his sales plummeted . This is just cold, heartless greed. She went back to Colorado, but I hope she gives New York another chance.
Lucas Sin, chef of Junzi cuisine and beautiful day: The closure of the 52-year-old Chinese-Cuban restaurant La Caridad 78 was particularly difficult to hear. As a Chino Latino emblem of the confluence of Chinese food forms, this has been a major influence on my thinking about how food and culture evolve in New York City.
Connie Chung, chef and co-owner of Milu: Too many to name. I think Gotham Bar and Grill is sad because it was so iconic and a staple for the New York restaurant scene. Whenever a restaurant that has been around for so long is very sad. On a more personal note, Dub Pies in Brooklyn. It used to be our favorite spot for a coffee or Milo after Prospect Park. But not any more.
Kim Pham, co-founder, Omsom: I know it’s not a restaurant, but I was devastated when the Pegu Club closed. One of the first real cocktail bars that I fell in love with when I moved to the city, and really a tragedy for the community. If we’re talking about restaurants, my heart broke when I saw West ~ Bourne up close. His team continued to press on thinking about what it means to be for and for the community, doing a really beautiful job, and launching some of the most tasty vegetarian dishes I’ve eaten in a long time.
Erika Chou, co-owner of restaurants, including Wayla and Kimika: Italian Café of Gaia. Gaia’s was a superlocal place that I used to frequent all the time to have lunch in the same block where I opened my first restaurant (Yunnan Kitchen) almost 10 years ago. It was definitely a restaurant in NY, under the radar and peculiar, so delicious, accessible and run by a very strong and serious woman who knows her mind and her food. Unique places like this make New York’s food scene what it is. Gaia, please open it again!
Gary He, writer and culinary photographer, author of Astrolabe Newsletter: Yu Li (Tang Hotpot, The Tang) contacted me in February about taking pictures for his new location in the East Village, Doma. We must have thrown about 30 dishes, some of which would be added to the menu in the coming months. Li looked so thrilled to be expanding. I spent another day and saw “For rent” signs on the front of the building and that left me totally destroyed.
Melissa McCart, editor of Heated and former editor of Eater NY: Mermaid Inn, Jewel Bako, Uncle Boons. Many.
Alan Sytsma, editor, Grub Street: I don’t think any single closure was as difficult to accept as the realization that each closure was only part of the city’s overall loss. Yes, I will miss certain places more than others, but I think it will take much longer to shake the remaining effects of the year more broadly.
Note: some responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.