Lincoln Square Steakhouse at 208 West 70th Street closed in September, and briefly moonlighted as a set for Law & Order. But now it’s being replaced by an Italian spot called La Tavola Delle Nonne, or “The Grandmother’s Table”, according to our source, who asked to be referred to as “a source close to the rigatoni”.
Anyway, Mr. Rigatoni tells us that it will open at the end of December. A nice Christmas gift for the neighborhood! Hopefully it will have more lasting power than the space’s prior two incarnations (remember Loi?).
NYers are suckers for Italian food, even (maybe especially) when it isn’t very good… So even though we already have a lot of Italian on the UWS, they have a fighting chance. Hopefully they are worth checking out more than once.
“Mr Rigatoni” from an Italian restaurant? Seriously? Are we being punked here? LOL
Just wait til you meet his daughter, Penny.
Mr Rigatoni should have named the restaurant La Travolta Delle Nonne.
Loi was a major loss.
They are now Midtown West, and still delicious!
It certainly was!
I agree!!
I remember all the many, many incarnations at 208 W. 70 St since l960. The spot is cursed.
I’ve lived in this ‘hood since ’03 and have lost count as to the number of restaurants that have occupied that space. It seems like it’s cursed while Cafe Lux next door is bursting at the seams most nights. I’m hoping this one has better luck!
I hope Mr. Rigatoni’s food is better than his fractured Italian. The Grandmother’s Table translates to Il Tavolo Della Nonna, not La Tavola Delle Nonne. (Nonne is grandmothers, plural; table is masculine.) Wishing him luck anyway.
The italian version is correct. The english translation is flawed as it should read “the table of the grandmothers”.
You’re absolutely right about the grandmothers, Vince.
But “table,” as in “kitchen table,is “tavolo,” masculine, so it gets an “il” in front and an “o” at the end. (To complicate things, the word becomes feminine in other contexts, like “table of contents.”)
And don’t forget Compass!
Of course Mendy’s!
i live on the block and that space needs to be reconfigured- or have amazing food and service. Fingers crossed that is fabulous! the rent there is very high so it will probably be expensive so make it great and maybe it will survive the curse!!
Whatever restaurants have come and gone the classy, bright mural at the back of the restaurant has endured and I hope it will again.
It’s just such a big place
“La Tavola delle Nonne” actually translates as “the Grandmothers’ Table”—it’s more than one grandmother
The grandmothers’table. Nonna is grand mother. Nonne is grand mothers (Plural) . Not that it makes a lot of difference. So we have more than one grand mother in the kitchen… may be they will do good “arrabiata” sauce…(Arabiatta=angry)!
oh my…the translation is wrong: it should be “La Tavola dela Nona” (or change the translation to “The Grandmothers’ Table”
“Delle Nonne” is plural, meaning more than one grandmother. The translation should be “The Grandmothers’ Table.”
Two restaurants next to one another is always going to be challenging, more so on a side street with little foot traffic other than parents walking their kids to or from PS 199.
On top of that, the space is large, dark and uninviting. The decor for the most recent version, was horrific.
More importantly, every single one of the restaurant concepts in that space over the past 15-20 years have been either outright bad or not appropriate for that location.
What would do well there would be a “high end” diner. Something resembling The Smith or PJ Clarke’s. A non-tourist trap version of Viand. A place like Fairway Diner but just not on top of a rat infested supermarket.
Make it something for the kids.
Make it a roller rink.
It should read the grandmothers’ table