Tom Colicchio is preparing to close his 15-year-old restaurant, Craftbar, on April 30. The lease was up, and the new rent was simply too high to renew, he said.
“Our rents are going up approximately 50%, and we can’t make a go of it,” Colicchio said. “Revenues will never cover it.”
Craftbar, which opened in 2002 as a casual offshoot next door to Colicchio’s Craft on East 19th Street, moved in 2005 to a 175-seat location at 900 Broadway.
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Although he closed another spot, West Chelsea’s Colicchio & Sons, in September, the chef and owner continues to operate three sit-down restaurants in Manhattan: Craft, Riverpark, and Fowler & Wells, which opened in October in the redone Beekman Hotel. ’Wichcraft, his sandwich chain, operates in nine locations around the city.
Colicchio said he hopes to resurrect Craftbar. “We’re going to look around for a location,” he said. “We need a lower-priced restaurant in our portfolio.” In the meantime, he plans to absorb most of the 70-person staff at other locations.
The chef, who is involved in politics and food activism through Food Policy Action, a social welfare organization dedicated to promoting a sustainable food system, said he lost his first bit of business last week, thanks to the new administration of President Donald Trump.
“We had a group coming in, but they had to cancel a party because some international people couldn’t get in,” he said. “Yesterday I lost my first bit of business because of him.”
Tom Colicchio is preparing to close his 15-year-old restaurant, Craftbar, on April 30. The lease was up, and the new rent was simply too high to renew, he said.
“Our rents are going up approximately 50%, and we can’t make a go of it,” Colicchio said. “Revenues will never cover it.”
Craftbar, which opened in 2002 as a casual offshoot next door to Colicchio’s Craft on East 19th Street, moved in 2005 to a 175-seat location at 900 Broadway.
Although he closed another spot, West Chelsea’s Colicchio & Sons, in September, the chef and owner continues to operate three sit-down restaurants in Manhattan: Craft, Riverpark, and Fowler & Wells, which opened in October in the redone Beekman Hotel. ’Wichcraft, his sandwich chain, operates in nine locations around the city.
Colicchio said he hopes to resurrect Craftbar. “We’re going to look around for a location,” he said. “We need a lower-priced restaurant in our portfolio.” In the meantime, he plans to absorb most of the 70-person staff at other locations.
The chef, who is involved in politics and food activism through Food Policy Action, a social welfare organization dedicated to promoting a sustainable food system, said he lost his first bit of business last week, thanks to the new administration of President Donald Trump.
“We had a group coming in, but they had to cancel a party because some international people couldn’t get in,” he said. “Yesterday I lost my first bit of business because of him.”
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