Legendary Italian Eatery Da Silvano Closes After 41 Years in Greenwich Village

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — Legendary Italian restaurant Da Silvano served its last meal Tuesday night after 41 years in the Greenwich Village, according to the New York Post. The restaurant, located near the border with the West Village and SoHo, had a loyal clientele of both neighborhood regulars and A-list celebrities who returned time and time again for reliable, no-frills Tuscan cooking.

Owner Silvano Marchetto told the Post that rising rent at his 260 6th Ave. location and operating costs "including new minimum-wage rules" were to blame. He said his rent has risen from $500 per month when the restaurant first opened in May 1975 to $41,000 per month today.

A nostalgic photo of Da Silvano's early days was posted to the restaurant's Instagram account Tuesday:

“Last night was our last night. We are closed forever,” Marchetto told the Post on Wednesday. “I can’t do it anymore."

A blogger at Art World memorializing Da Silvano on Wednesday called the restaurant "a favorite for the art world’s many patrons and participants, who continued to visit, with somewhat less frequency" even when all the art galleries moved from the nearby SoHo area up to Chelsea.

Da Silvano prided itself on authenticity and simplicity, and was known for, among other dishes, its roasted standing duck, artichoke salad brash and lamb.

When it opened in May 1975, most NYC Italian restaurants were serving Americanized "red sauce" dishes. "Marchetto was one of the first to introduce Americans to Tuscan cuisine," the restaurant's website says, "and is responsible for bringing many of Italy’s finest products to the forefront of Italian cuisine in America."

"Silvano reinvented Italian restaurants by introducing New Yorkers to Cucina Toscana (Tuscan Cuisine) while injecting a rock ‘n’ roll energy filled with everything that is Downtown cool," the site says.

Frank Bruni reviewed the restaurant for the New York Times in 2006:

"Da Silvano, which received two stars in The New York Times from Ruth Reichl in 1998, has been around for more than three decades. Over that time it has evolved from a trailblazing showcase for unadorned Tuscan cooking to something of a downtown Elaine’s, with a proprietor, Silvano Marchetto, practiced at coddling stars and manufacturing his own luster. A cartoon illustration of his face is stamped on the restaurant’s water bottles and pepper grinders."

Celebrity diners included Rihanna, Sean Penn, Owen Wilson, Madonna, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lindsay Lohan, Anna Wintour and more.

A number of scandals piled up at Da Silvano over the years, including the time when, in 2004, Britain's Price Michael of Kent allegedly told a table of black diners to "go back to the colonies," and when, in 2013, art dealer Tony Shatfrazi furiously cussed out Owen Wilson in front of other diners on the restaurant's sidewalk patio.

Marchetto was also hit with a sexual assault lawsuit in 2011 for allegedly fondling the genitals of a male garage manager. The lawsuit was reportedly settled out of court.

Image via Google Maps