Change of Plans

Iacopo Falai’s Clinton Street Trattoria Probably Not Happening

Iacopo Falai wants to revive his creative Italian cooking elsewhere.
Iacopo Falai wants to revive his creative Italian cooking elsewhere. Photo: Will Ragozzino/Patrick McMullan

At last night’s New York Wine & Food Festival kickoff, Meatball Madness (recap coming shortly), we spoke with Iacopo Falai about that trattoria he’d been planning for 77 Clinton Street. In the wake of his shuttering flagship fine-dining spot Falai, the chef-restaurateur told us that plans for the trattoria are on hold. “I need to sell Falai first,” said, indicating that the other project is up-in-the-air. (A rep e-mailed this morning to say the project isn’t happening.) The toque alluded that he could resurrect Falai restaurant elsewhere. “It’s the cooking I do,” he explained, and he hopes to continue it “in some other form.” The Lower East Side might just not be right anymore: “It’s mostly bars now,” he lamented. “Or people want tapas, small plates. They go out at 10 p.m. — at 10 p.m. Falai was closing.” [Earlier, Earlier]

Iacopo Falai’s Clinton Street Trattoria Probably Not Happening