Black Seed in De Robertis

Since the heartbreaking closure of De Robertis' Pasticceria, we've wondered what would take its celebrated space.



Today Florence Fabricant at the Times quietly notes:

"BLACK SEED BAGELS Noah Bernamoff and Matt Kliegman will open a full-service cafe and bakery with a wood-fired oven in the former De Robertis Pasticceria space in late spring. The new owners plan to increase their baking capacity and sell their bagels wholesale. Much of the venerable pastry shop’s tile work will be preserved: 176 First Avenue (11th Street)."



Here's a description of Black Seed from Grub Street:

"There are many things that Black Seed has that your neighborhood bagel shop most likely doesn’t: There’s the wood-fired oven, the last step in a process that begins with hand-rolling and poaching. There’s the design by hOmE, the Brooklyn firm that built Tørst and Paulie Gee’s, and here uses reclaimed sycamore, beveled walnut, and Carrara marble. There’s the Stumptown coffee. And then there’s the shop’s ambition..."

What is there to say? I just hope they don't fuck up DeRobertis' gorgeous century-old interior with all that design and ambition.

UPDATE: Good news, reports Gothamist: The owners of Black Seed are "working with the De Robertis family to honor and preserve original design elements of the bakery including the ornately tiled floor, handcut tile walls, and pressed tin ceiling."