Michelin-Starred Public Restaurant Is Closing In June

Public, the Michelin-starred restaurant in New York's NoLIta that has been open for more than a decade, will have its last dinner service on June 3. Unlike other restaurants around the city that closed because of soaring rents, Public is shutting its doors due to new construction that will keep the building uninhabitable for two years. Although this sounds like a temporary problem, the restaurant's owners are closing it permanently.

"We can't see moving it," chef Brad Farmerie told The New York Times. "Public is so specific to the neighborhood, the space and its history."

Public is well-known throughout the restaurant community, and during its tenure, picked up a Michelin star and a couple of James Beard awards. Public's co-owners with Farmerie — Adam Farmerie, Dan Rafalin, William Harris, Kristina O'Neal, and Greg Bradshaw — still have a full restaurant portfolio under their AvroKO Hospitality Group, including Saxon & Parole, with locations in Moscow and New York, and the Midtown New York steakhouse Quality Meats. There is no word yet on when and if Brad Farmerie will move on to another venture.