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Cafe Gitane's New Vinegar Hill Outpost Will Have 'Country' Feel, Owner Says

By Alexandra Leon | December 8, 2016 4:47pm | Updated on December 9, 2016 5:02pm
 Cafe Gitane will be opening a Brooklyn outpost at 70 Hudson Ave. in early spring.
Cafe Gitane will be opening a Brooklyn outpost at 70 Hudson Ave. in early spring.
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DNAinfo

VINEGAR HILL — The new Brooklyn avocado-toast hot spot Cafe Gitane will be much quieter than the French eatery's Nolita outpost when it opens in the spring, the owner said. 

“You go there and it’s like being next to the country, coming from New York,” owner Luc Levy said. 

The new restaurant, which is slated to open next year at 70 Hudson Ave., will be a near-replica of the Mott Street location cafe, minus the frenzied city energy, Levy said.

boot tray

The avocado toast at Cafe Gitane.

The restaurant owner said he chose the space after getting a tip from a former customer who had moved to DUMBO. 

“I ran into him and he says, 'You have to see this location,'” Levy said. “And I really fell in love with the location. It’s a very very special location.”

The 500-square-foot space formerly houses the wine bar Hillside, an offshoot of Vinegar Hill House, located in the Vinegar Hill Historic District. 

Levy said his new digs — designed by Gilles Depardon, the same architect behind the original location — will be a near replica of his Mott Street eatery.

The menu will also be the same and include the restaurant’s signature dishes, like cucumber and hummus salad, Moroccan couscous and its trademark avocado toast. 

Unlike the Nolita spot, it’ll offer beer and wine only after Community Board 2’s health committee recommended approval for the restaurant’s liquor license application at a Tuesday meeting. 

The new location will be open from 8 a.m. to midnight. 

Brooklyn is just the first of Levy's latest ventures, as the cafe will soon be opening a third location in Tokyo and he’s eyeing Los Angeles for a fourth.