Closings

Williamsburg Loses a Mercat, But Manhattan Will Gain One

Mercat Negre, the Williamsburg spinoff of Noho’s Mercat, hasn’t yet been open for a year, but owner Jaume Reixach has announced that he’ll close the airy space and its rooftop next Sunday, September 5, and reopen it a week later with a different name and concept (perhaps something more in keeping with the “bistronomic” restaurant he’s been wanting to open?). Unlike its sister, Mercat Negre has been undertrafficked since opening last fall: When Time Out penned a negative review (not the only one) back in February, it wondered “if the restaurant can hold on till summer.” But don’t count Mercat out as a brand — Reixach’s letter, reprinted below, hints at a forthcoming downtown location.

MERCAT NEGRE FADES TO BLACK-

August 25th, 2010 - Mercat would like to announce that as of Sunday September 5th it will be permanently closing its Williamsburg location ‘Mercat Negre’. The space will be opening a week later under a completely different name and concept. We would like to thank all of our loyal patrons and supporters but unfortunately we were not able to execute our concept accordingly to cater to the neighborhood’s needs and for that we apologize.

On a lighter note all Wines and Beers at Mercat Negre will be 30% off from now until September 5th. So come and enjoy our roof deck for the last days of summer and help us unload some inventory in the process.

Mercat will now concentrate its efforts on growing the brand within Manhattan and are finalizing negotiations to open a second downtown location in the coming months. We will also be reigniting our Spanish Guest chef program at the end of September with a very exciting invitee we will be announcing shortly. Thank you very much and we look forward to having some concrete news in the short term.

Salut I Forca,
Jaume Reixach

Williamsburg Loses a Mercat, But Manhattan Will Gain One