Other Barbarini Owners Opening New Spot in Same Space

Barbarini Alimentari in the South Street Seaport will not return after being devastated by Hurricane Sandy, but a new Italian restaurant by a former owner of that one will rise in its place. To recap the Barbarini saga: Shortly after the storm, co-owners Claudio and Linda Marini split with their business partners Stefano Barbagallo and decided to begin looking for a new space on higher ground for a new restaurant. (This process is being followed closely in Eater's video series The Sandy Chronicles.) Now, DNAinfo reports, Barbagallo and his wife Adriana Luque have signed a new lease in the original Barbarini space and will open a new restaurant there.

The new restaurant does not yet have a name?it won't be called Barbarini, obviously?but it will take on Barbarini's original 10-table space, which opened in 2007 before the restaurant expanded into a larger space next door. According to DNAinfo's report, Barbagallo is unsure whether he will take on that space as well.

Residents of Historic Front Street in the Seaport were recently told that they will not be able to return to their homes until May 1, since work is still ongoing in the heavily damaged neighborhood. (Interestingly, in The Durst Organization's letter to residents on March 18, the Historic Front Street landlord said that Barbarini is in fact returning. It is, sort of, but under a new name and with only half the original ownership team.) A whole lot of work obviously still has to be done on the old Barbarini space, but Barbagallo and Luque hope to be open by June 1.
· Former Barbarini Owner Coming Back to South Street Seaport After Sandy [DNAinfo]
· All Coverage of Barbarini Alimentari [~ENY~]
· All Coverage of Post-Sandy NYC [~ENY~]
[Photo: DNAinfo]