Rag and Bone Buys Out Nolita fixture Cafe Colonial

After 15 years as a Nolita local favorite, restaurant Cafe Colonial is forced to shut down due to the staggering increase in rent. The shabby chic cafe which served delicious breakfast and brunch, Brazilian flavored entres, and once rumored favorite of Leonardo DiCaprio, is being replaced by Rag and Bone.

Cafe Colonial owner Lucille Gilan said her landlord came to her last October claiming another tenant was interested in the space and that unless she could match the $30,000 a month rent offer, she’d have to close shop. Is there a chance she’ll open Cafe Colonial in a new location? As of now, no. She’s looked at an Elizabeth street 2,000 square foot space going for $10,000 but building a kitchen alone would cost $200,000 that she doesn’t have. Moreover, she’s reluctant to move out of Nolita at the chance of loosing her re-occurring customers. “To open up a place like my small restaurant right now in Manhattan you need $400,000,” she says. “Now with regulations and Bloomberg, everything has to be up to code — the sprinkler system, the plumber, the bathrooms … You need a certain amount of commercial gas to come inside, you can’t just work with home gas. I have to get a special license, and that can take two or three months to get all those permits.”

Rag and Bone is set to open July 1. This will be the third stand alone boutique for Rag and Bone which already has Manhattan locations in the West Village and SoHo.

What do you prefer, Brazilian brunch or twill shirts?

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