The Spotted Pig
749 Greenwich Street | also 314 West 11th Street | West Village | built 1899
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1835
Abraham W. Cooper builds a double Greek Revival house with shops at street level
The corner building at 749-751 Greenwich Street, later home to the Spotted Pig, goes up in 1835 for Abraham W. Cooper. The Landmarks Preservation Commission's Greenwich Village Historic District report describes a double Greek Revival residence, three stories high, with stores at street level. Number 749 keeps its original doorway with Doric columns, and a simple Greek Revival cornice crowns both halves of the Flemish-bond brick facade.
Source: media.villagepreservation.org
- 1835
A merchant tailor builds a double Greek Revival house with street-level stores at 749-751 Greenwich Street
Abraham W. Cooper, a merchant tailor, built a pair of three-story brick houses on Greenwich Street in 1835, with shops on the ground floor. The Landmarks Preservation Commission described the brickwork as Flemish bond and noted that the original doorway with Doric columns survived at No. 749. The house was one of a run of Cooper-built buildings on the block.
“…double Greek Revival residence, three stories in height, also was built for Abraham W. Cooper in 1835, with stores at street level…”
- 2003
Former Arista talent scout Ken Friedman lines up backers including Michael Stipe and Mario Batali
Ken Friedman had been a concert promoter, band manager and Arista talent scout before he took friends up on offers to back a restaurant of his own. R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe was one of them, and Mario Batali also invested as Friedman began his new career in 2003. Jamie Oliver pointed them to River Cafe sous chef April Bloomfield, who flew to New York for a ten-hour round of restaurant meals, got the job and spent a summer at Chez Panisse before opening the Spotted Pig with Friedman.
Source: theguardian.com
- 2004
Ken Friedman opens the Spotted Pig on a corner where a restaurant called the Zoo had operated
Ken Friedman's first location for his gastropub, a space on Elizabeth Street, fell through when chef April Bloomfield disliked the room and the community board was not going to grant a liquor license. He then took the corner space directly across from his own apartment, which he learned was available from the owners of the Zoo, the restaurant that occupied it before. Friedman later said he had hoped for a neighborhood watering hole; the Spotted Pig opened in 2004.
Source: eater.com
- 2004
Ken Friedman opens the Spotted Pig gastropub at West 11th and Greenwich Streets
The Spotted Pig opened in 2004 at 314 West 11th Street, on the corner of Greenwich Street. Ken Friedman owned it and Mario Batali was a main investor. April Bloomfield, a British chef, ran the kitchen; she came on after flying to New York to meet Batali and Friedman. The pub kept a Michelin star from roughly 2006 through 2016.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2005
Michelin's first New York guide awards the Spotted Pig a star, and Mario Batali objects
When Michelin inspectors first reviewed New York restaurants in 2005, the guide gave a star to the Spotted Pig, a bare-bones tavern serving bacon-wrapped prunes. The choice was controversial because it put the pub on a par with Babbo, Batali's high-end pasta restaurant. Batali himself told Florence Fabricant in 2005 that Michelin was blowing it by ranking the two together. Eater's Ryan Sutton later judged the award prescient, since the Pig helped define a casual, ambitious style of American dining.
Source: ny.eater.com
- 2005
A Guardian review about a year after opening makes the Spotted Pig known to British chefs
Ken Friedman later said no single article made the Spotted Pig, but one mattered a great deal: a review by Jay Rayner in the British Guardian, published about a year after the opening. Friedman recalled it as calling the place the best gastropub in the world, even though it was in New York rather than England. He said it was a big moment for chef April Bloomfield, because her peers back home all read about the pub.
Source: eater.com
- 2016
Michelin drops the Spotted Pig's star and moves it to the Bib Gourmand list
Michelin's list of Bib Gourmand restaurants, released ahead of its 2017 Red Guide, showed that the Spotted Pig would not keep its star. Eater's Ryan Sutton called it a very big deal, since the pub had held a star since the guide first came to New York in 2005. He noted that diners still often waited an hour for a solo bar seat to eat April Bloomfield's burger, topped with Roquefort.
Source: ny.eater.com
- 2017
Former staff accuse Ken Friedman of harassment at the Spotted Pig after a Times investigation
As the #MeToo movement spread in 2017, many former Spotted Pig employees made claims against owner Ken Friedman, including that he retaliated against anyone who spoke out. A New York Times investigation described requests for nude photos and groping of staff. Friedman apologized publicly that December. Mario Batali, another prominent investor, was also accused of misconduct, both in his own restaurant group and at the Spotted Pig.
Source: ny.eater.com
- 2017
A New York Times report on owner Ken Friedman's treatment of staff shakes the Spotted Pig
In December 2017 the New York Times published an article, based on interviews with more than two dozen current and former employees, accusing owner Ken Friedman of repeated sexual harassment. Employees said chef April Bloomfield knew about his behavior and did not protect them. Friedman stepped away from managing the restaurant group, and Bloomfield publicly apologized to her staff.
“…owner Ken Friedman was accused of multiple cases of sexual harassment in an article published in The New York Times…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2018
Police confirm an investigation into an alleged assault at the Spotted Pig involving investor Mario Batali
In May 2018, more accusations against chef Mario Batali were aired on 60 Minutes. The New York Police Department then confirmed it was looking into his past behavior, including an alleged assault at the Spotted Pig, the West Village restaurant where he was an investor. Batali denied the assault allegation but said his past behavior had been deeply inappropriate and that he was remorseful.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2018
Chef April Bloomfield announces she is leaving the Spotted Pig
April Bloomfield apologized shortly after the December 2017 report on her partner Ken Friedman, then spoke little in public about the allegations. In June 2018 she released a statement announcing that she was leaving the Spotted Pig. Grub Street reported that she gave a fuller account to the New York Times that October, after the division of the pair's restaurant group was under way.
Source: grubstreet.com
- 2018
April Bloomfield tells the Times she knew about the third floor's drug-fueled parties but not how far it went
In an October 2018 interview, April Bloomfield said she had known that partner Ken Friedman used the Spotted Pig's third floor for drug-fueled parties and questionable behavior, but not the extent of what accusers later described. She said she had failed many people. Bloomfield ran the kitchen while Friedman controlled the front of house, and she said she felt too weak to stand up to him.
Source: nypost.com
- 2019
Ken Friedman says he will give up his stake in the Spotted Pig if diners return
After the 2017 allegations, Ken Friedman held on to the Spotted Pig while April Bloomfield dissolved their partnership. At one point he had lined up Gabrielle Hamilton and Ashley Merriman of Prune as partners, but the deal collapsed. By the summer of 2019, Friedman said he would give up his ownership stake if the foodies came back.
Source: ny.eater.com
- 2020
Ken Friedman settles with the state attorney general and gives up management of the Spotted Pig
The New York attorney general's office began looking into Ken Friedman in 2018. On January 7, 2020, he settled the case, agreeing to pay $240,000 plus 20 percent of his profits for ten years to 11 former staffers, with a share of any sale of the restaurant. The state said Friedman and the Pig had failed to address unwanted touching and sexual comments, and the restaurant had to adopt new anti-harassment policies. Friedman said he was relinquishing his role and ownership.
Source: ny.eater.com
- 2020
The Spotted Pig closes less than three weeks after Friedman's settlement
The Spotted Pig, the West Village gastropub at West 11th and Greenwich Streets, closed on January 26, 2020. The closing came 19 days after owner Ken Friedman settled with the state, agreeing to pay $240,000, plus a fifth of his profits, to former employees; they had accused him of sexual harassment and discrimination. The restaurant, with chef April Bloomfield and investor Mario Batali, had opened in 2004.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2020
The Spotted Pig closes after a settlement with former employees
The Spotted Pig served its last customers on January 26, 2020. Earlier that month, on January 7, Friedman agreed to pay $240,000 and give 20 percent of his profits to former employees who had accused him of harassment and discrimination.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- The Spotted PigWikipedia
- Then & Now photos: 314 West 11th Street (aka 749-751 Greenwich Street)Village Preservation: Greenwich Village Then & Now
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