In 1990, on a sleepy corner of Lower Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood, chef and restaurateur Drew Nieporent (the force behind fine dining venues Montrachet and Nobu) and Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro caused a stir with the opening of Tribeca Grill. In the decades that followed, the Wine Spectator Grand Award winner’s dining room would be filled with Hollywood stars, wine world legends and lovers of the good life. Now, those days are coming to a close. According to management, the last day of service will be March 1.
“People love these [fine dining] institutions, but this generation [of diner] in New York City, for whatever reason they don't revere them,” Nieporent told Wine Spectator. “Tribeca Grill is a place that's lasted 34 years; our food's good, our wine is good, we have spectacular staff, but there's got to be a time to move on. Just like a Broadway show: There's a time to open, there's a time to close.”
To Nieporent and longtime wine director David Gordon, the closure of the Tribeca Grill is indicative of larger changes in fine dining. More guests are looking to outer boroughs like Brooklyn and Queens to dine, Nieporent says. Gordon also mentions inflation and higher labor costs. This decade has not been economically kind to restaurants.
A Manhattan Temple to Wine
In its first years, Tribeca Grill only had 60 wines on its list, says Gordon. He made it his mission to expand, cementing the restaurant's place in the Manhattan wine scene, earning Wine Spectator’s prestigious Grand Award every year since 2002.
As of publication, there are no plans for the cellar, boasting 25,000 bottles.
“With the publicity from Wine Spectator and the Grand Award in 2002, it propelled us again to be as much of a wine destination as it was a celebrity food destination,” said Gordon. Beyond just movie stars, Gordon says a wide array of characters started coming to Tribeca Grill—from basketball legends looking for iconic bottles, to wine industry stars hosting dinners, like the “Barolo Boys,” the young winemakers who reshaped the Italian region in the 1980s and 90s.
“Bruce Springsteen came in and played in our party room for 200 people on more than one occasion,” said Gordon. “Everybody you can imagine: Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney … [they all] came in over the years. Makes it a little more interesting than just when my family comes here.”
High-End Comfort Food Paired With Elite Wine and Service
Tribeca Grill serves elevated New American dining—think pan-roasted Amish chicken with feather-light whipped potatoes, plump butternut squash ravioli with sage and brown butter, or the decadent “Daily Burger” topped with a cheese-and-ale sauce and bacon-onion jam. With its brick-lined interior, sizable oak bar and tiled floors, it manages to pair a uniquely Manhattan blend of fine dining and comfort.
Gordon has kept its wine program focused on not only offering exceptional selections—particularly in bottles from the Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape—but great value, not excessively marking up bottles just for the sake of it. “Honestly, I think we still have the best prices in town for aged wine,” said Gordon. “It's just a rare thing to have that, and I think our customers appreciated it.”
Over the years, Tribeca Grill jumpstarted the careers of dozens of wine industry leaders, each graduating from the “David Gordon School of Wine.” “We have had many talented people working there, and I am still in touch with almost all of them,” said Gordon. “I believe the most important thing I taught them was to not be snobby about wine and to treat our customers with respect no matter what they ordered.”
The parting is bittersweet—staff were told of the closure last week, with management aiming to find every person a new role. Some of the staff, including food runners, have worked at the restaurant for over 20 years. But according to Gordon and Nieporent, there was an understanding that it was the right time to close.
Nieporent says there are no plans for the 100-year-old building, which is owned by De Niro, or the multiple levels of space Tribeca Grill occupies, which is owned separately by the restaurant. In the final weeks before it closes for good, the restaurant is offering a $59 three-course prix-fixe menu in addition to the standard à la carte selections.
“[We’re] losing a restaurant that stood the test of time, and that was part of the food and wine community of New York,” said Nieporent. “But New York is just a great city. I spent 34 years—which is half my life— with this restaurant. I’m so very proud of it, very happy.”
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