Cafe Gitane
French restaurant · Nolita ·
French-Moroccan cafe serving couscous, avocado toast, baked eggs
French-Moroccan cafe serving couscous, avocado toast, baked eggs
"Opened in June 1994 by Luc Lévy at 242 Mott Street near Prince Street, this Nolita cafe evolved from a day-one ghost town—Lévy even sent home his only waitress, musician Charlyn Marshall, who soon recorded her first album as Cat Power at a practice space up the block shared by Sonic Youth and the Beastie Boys—into an iconic downtown living room and “intimidatingly cool” clubhouse. Known for helping make avocado toast ubiquitous—the “fashionable toast specialist cafe,” as Eater once put it—it drew regulars like Spike Jones, David Bowie, Michelle Williams, and restaurateurs Serge Becker and Zac Bahaj of Lucien. The appeal was as much about feel as food; as Lévy told WNYC, the space wasn’t modeled on anywhere else but built on instinct: “How do I feel? What would I want to put on this wall?” Even as its reputation was back on the rise—“I still think Gitane is as cool as it always was,” Helena Christensen said—the original location has now quietly closed, its website dead and staff at the Vinegar Hill location confirming the shutdown, following a turbulent stretch that included a landlord suit over back rent in 2020 and, per Grub Street, employee allegations of missed paychecks and owed wages." - Melissa McCart
"You know how French people only eat baguettes and cheese and still manage to be way skinnier than all of us? We like Cafe Gitane because it helps us pretend, even just for a couple hours, that we’re one of those people. It’s why we end up ordering the prosciutto on baguette, or baked feta, or goat cheese. But if you have a better grasp on reality, this Moroccan/French spot has healthier things like salads, simple proteins, and lighter egg dishes. And avocado toast - they were actually one of the first restaurants in NYC to serve it." - katherine lewin
"When you need a cool, casual French bistro, Cafe Gitane is there for you. We like the one Mott where you can sit outside and watch tourists point at things that don’t matter. Do this for a bit, then show your friend something of real significance: the O.G. avocado toast." - bryan kim
"You’d think that Nolita would have a lot of healthy options, but once you actually take a walk around, you’re confronted by Parm, Rubirosa, and Tacombi. In these situations, Cafe Gitane’s an oldie but a goodie. After all, this place basically invented the avocado toast. Well, maybe that was someone in Australia, but Gitane definitely brought it to New York first." - hillary reinsberg
"“Right by Emilio’s is a cafe I’ve always loved, Cafe Gitane. It’s my go-to for a quiet meal. If I were to read the news, I would go there to read the news, or just, you know, scroll on my phone. It’s delicious, and the Moroccan couscous is unreal. During the day it’s good for people watching. You sit on the street and have great food—they have an amazing avocado toast. But at night, it becomes kind of romantic. It’s dimly lit and really feels like you’re in Europe somewhere.”" - gabe bergado
