Chef Marco Canora’s Charming East Village Oyster Bar Closes After Four Years

Marco Canora, the chef behind East Village Italian mainstay Hearth and popular bone-broth counter Brodo, has closed his charming wine and oyster bar down the street, Zadie’s Oyster Room, EV Grieve reports. The restaurant, located at 413 East 12th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A, served its last meal last night after four years of business.

Canora tells EV Grieve that the restaurant couldn’t attract enough customers to remain open. Eater has reached out to Canora for more details. The rustic space, with exposed brick walls, wooden tables, and a limited amount of seating, opened in 2016. Soon after, New York Times critic Pete Wells awarded it one star praising all the different preparations of oysters the restaurant had to offer. Those included a broiled version with minced seaweed and parmesan cheese, and a baked option with prosciutto and egg yolk.

Prior to opening Zadie’s, Canora ran a wine bar called Fifty Paces from the same space. For now though, Canora has no plans of opening a new establishment at this location, he tells EV Grieve.

Canora has been an East Village staple for nearly two decades now. Following a stint at Tom Colicchio’s Craft, Canora opened Hearth in 2003 serving Tuscan-inspired American fare. The restaurant was a hit but more than a decade later, the chef was ready for a revamp. He debuted a healthier version of his restaurant in 2016, two years after he had opened a counter-service spot for one of his restaurant’s most-popular items, bone broth. Brodo, as that broth establishment is known, has since spawned five locations in addition to the original East Village window.

• Zadie’s Oyster Room has closed [EV Grieve]