Closings

Bid on Café des Artistes

Photo: Shanna Ravindra

When Café des Artistes closed its doors last summer, there were a lot of restaurant owners, including Graydon Carter and Drew Nieporent, rumored to be eyeing the fabled space. This week, the trustees are auctioning off everything but the Howard Chandler Christy murals. Representatives of interested parties were there to bid on tables, chairs, fixtures, glassware, kitchen equipment, even the six years remaining on the lease, but the best offer — $140,000 for the whole package, excluding the liquor — was turned down. “Some individual bids were accepted for kitchen equipment and liquor,” said Gerald Picaso, the managing agent of the co-op. The auction continues through 4 p.m. today (call trustee John Pereira at 212-758-5777 for more information). If no acceptable offer is put forth for the lease, the premises will be returned to the building’s co-op board to rent. Meanwhile, we hear the latest interested group is the team behind three-star Dovetail.

Bid on Café des Artistes