When Keri and I first moved in to New York City, we moved downtown. It was the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and not the best time to be living in Tribeca. But, we figured we were the right people to be part of the revitalization of the neighborhood. We didn’t have children. We spent a lot of money locally at restaurants, bars, dry cleaners, grocery stores, delis, fountain pen hospitals, computer stores, tire shops, jdm sneaker stores, comic book stores… You get the idea.
One of our most favourite places in the neighborhood was Grace “Bar • Restaurant • Ritual” on Franklin Street. Grace was a warm and welcoming place. Excellent food. Wonderful cocktails. …and very reasonably priced. Plus, the kitchen was open until 2:00am. The folks that worked there were wonderful. From the sweater-wearing-JJ to the appropriately-dressed-Danielle to the short-lived-dominatrix-hostess everyone always exuded that chill vibe that’s so hard to explain, much less develop as into a brand promise at a local restaurant and bar.
Yesterday, Grace closed.
It wasn’t that much of a surprise. Rumour had been swirling for some time that the doors would be closing last winter. But still, I cannot help but feel sad by the news. Keri and I spent many a night in our “living room down the street”. We created our own rituals between it’s crimson walls and vaulted ceilings: Awaiting the first snow in the back room under the greenhouse glass. Ringing in the New Year on more than one occasion. Cooling off after a walk through SoHo on a Sunday. Trying to get the guys from Highway 1 inside for a beer. Seeing how long it would take to get ejected after walking behind the bar. Trying to discover the french-fry recipe…
Things never really bounced back for Grace after September 11th. Despite my own personal attempts to single-handedly revitalize the business (mostly by ordering lots and lots of Jameson) the business was seized. Pad locked.
It makes me sad that it ended this way. Even living across the country, I always manged to find time for a Spicy Tomato or a Burger each and every trip to New York… But, in a way this is probably a good thing. The never-give-up owner probably needed this. He always struck me as the kind of guy never to take no for an answer. If the customer base wasn’t there in the post-9/11 Tribeca to support Grace, he would not have ever quit… until he had to.
And that’s just what happened.
Keep going until you can’t.
Thanks for fighting the good fight, guys. I enjoyed every minute at Grace over the 6 years I’ve known of the place. I can’t wait to see what you do next…
Tags: Grace, New York City, Tribeca
August 10th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
That is a very nice tribute, Emil.
Grace was my favorite ever since that one fateful summer Friday when Judy suggested I meet her there for lunch. She had off every Friday in the summer and I hadn’t yet found a job, since we had just moved a few months before. We had watermelon martinis for lunch and dinner that day, and on most Fridays for the rest of the summer. It really was a special place - very comfortable, chill, good customers, good staff. And watermelon martinis made with real watermelon juice.
Here are some of my favorite memories, including some important moments for us that took place with Grace as the backdrop…
- #1 favorite memory: going there during The Blackout. The beer was going to get warm and Grace called all the regulars to ask us to come drink it. I had just walked home from 83rd street, I took the pitch-black stairwell up to our apartment, I was tired, I was crabby, I was hot. I had just taken a shower in the dark. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out at all, but we had so much fun that night at Grace that The Blackout is one of my favorite days living in NYC.
- The Christmas after Emil’s grandma passed away was going to be very hard on the whole family. Going to her house on Christmas Eve was THE tradition and no one wanted to make decisions about what to do instead. We arranged a Christmas Eve lunch at Grace - and even though it was only the 15 or so of us, they gave us the whole place for a few hours. We didn’t feel rushed, we didn’t feel like we had to be composed because other people were around - it was a sad day but a new beginning for the family and even now, all of them talk about how nice that lunch was and how Grace was such a perfect location for what we needed.
- We made friends at Grace who are still a part of our lives, even after moving to CA.
- My sister’s best friend broke up with his last girlfriend at Grace, which lead to him professing his undying love for my sister. They are married now.
- Emil learned how to make and pour 15 shots from that shaker thing with the springy strainer thing and didn’t spill too much on the bar.
- New Year’s Eve at Grace when our two friends, Little Jeremy and Bald Jeremy, were visiting from CA. That was my favorite New Year’s Eve of all time. So fun!
- All of the snowy days in which we made the sludgy trek to have Pimms Cups or whatever that hot drink was called.
- Returning the 3 wine glasses and 5 cocktail classes I walked home with over the years but felt too guilty to move to CA with. (I kept 1 wine glass though) What? They didn’t have to-go cups and it’s a sin to waste alcohol.
- No matter where we went out in the city, ending most nights with drinks and crack french-fries at Grace.
Oh I’ll miss it. But you’re right, the owners definitely didn’t give up, they created a great place in Grace, and I’m sure whatever they do next will be awesome as well.