Tribeca Frenchie Cercle Rouge Spins Off Into the Wild Blue Yonder

West Broadway brasserie Cercle Rouge is closed for good. George Forgeois, the restaurateur behind Jules Bistro and Bar Tabac, recently fell behind on rent, and facing some hefty real estate taxes, he decided to throw in the towel. The marshal seized the restaurant last week. In the comments of a Tribeca Citizen post about the closure, Forgeois explains: "[M]y landlord has been a good guy the first 9 years. [I] think he just lost it [and doesn't realize] the damage done." The restaurateur also notes that he ran into some trouble with the city trying to land a permit for Cercle Rouge's annual Bastille Day celebration, and the restaurant was about to be covered in new scaffolding, which never helps.

Cercle Rouge was one of the first restaurants to land on the Eater Deathwatch almost exactly 10 years ago this week. The restaurant was removed from the 'Watch six years ago.  Forgeois also shuttered his Hudson Square restaurant, Clarkson, last year.