Two acclaimed hospitality groups partner on an enchanting addition to Great Jones Street

For years, a bust of Elvis Presley welcomed guests to Great Jones Cafe, a storied NoHo establishment that served Cajun-Creole cuisine alongside a drinks menu fit for a lively neighborhood hangout. It’s this legendary bust that lends Elvis, a new French-influenced cafe and wine bar in the former Great Jones Cafe space, its fittingly nostalgic name. Equally appropriate is the burnt caramel orange of the interior, another nod to the original watering hole which opened in 1983 and shuttered, to the dismay of New Yorkers, in 2018. Everything else, however, has been thoughtfully reimagined and reinvigorated thanks to a partnership between downtown Manhattan pioneers: Jon Neidich’s Golden Age Hospitality alongside Eric Kruvant and Darin Rubell’s Paradise Projects. Together, they’ve paired a concise, satisfying list of natural wines and carefully constructed cocktails with delectable culinary contributions from executive chef Nicole Gajadhar.

“These blocks have such a distinct feel. They’re their own little pocket of downtown Manhattan, with their own charming appeal,” Kruvant says of Great Jones Street and neighboring Bond Street. Prior to the development of Elvis, Kruvant lived directly above it and fell in love with the area. When the restaurant space at 54 Great Jones Street became available, he immediately sought it out. “We had a lot of ideas, at first,” he tells COOL HUNTING. “We didn’t think that we could make a restaurant work and bringing back something like Great Jones Cafe seemed impossible. We wanted to create a hybrid, a neighborhood spot like Great Jones Cafe, but in our own style, casual with a serious focus on food and wine.”

Neidich was also no stranger to the neighborhood. In fact, Golden Age Hospitality helped to define the developing scene—first with the opening of ACME more than a decade ago and then through the upscale addition of The Nines in 2022. “When ACME opened in 2012, we thought it was an A location. Great Jones and Bond St. have always been two of the coolest streets in NYC for me,” Neidich tells COOL HUNTING. “They’re central to everything, and yet the fact that they are both only two blocks long is special. Since ACME, there have been a slew of openings in both restaurants and retail. NoHo has evolved into a destination and probably New York’s most sought after neighborhood.”

Neidich frequented Great Jones Cafe during the construction of ACME. “It was an escape from many stressful days,” he says. “I watched the space over the years and remember when it became available for the first time. It wasn’t the right time for me then.” Acclaimed restaurateur Gabriel Stulman took over the space in 2018, first transforming it into the Jones and then another concept, Jolene. Earlier this year, Stulman shuttered the latter. “I was immediately interested this time because I was spending so much time there with The Nines, and because the neighborhood had become a destination post-pandemic. I also really wanted to bring some life back to the address,” Neidich adds.

The structural design of the petite space, which can welcome a total of 34 people, is quite different from the past iterations. There an emphasis on bringing people together. “The layout was influenced by the Parisian-style wine bar café, where everything is at standing height,” Neidich explains. “In Europe, you would actually have fewer stools because it’s more of a standing culture, but in New York, people like to have a place to sit. We wanted the space to be versatile and allow people to eat and drink for various occasions.”

There’s also an elevated, inherent warmth. “Regarding the interiors, bringing back a version of the original Great Jones orange color to the walls and storefront was essential to me,” Neidich says. Kruvant shares that the original orange along with the old blue door were selected by the previous owner, Phil Hartman, because he was Mets fan. To find their own orange, the team painted patches of various hues on the walls and sat with them until they had to make a decision. They also selected a luscious red and married them with design elements. “We didn’t want to replicate any other place,” Kruvant says. “We wanted to make sure it was its own thing. In a small space, you can see everything. All the details are noticeable. We had to use every inch thoughtfully.”

French cuisine manifests as a trio of flavorful fromages with accoutrements, delicious duck rillettes, as well as exemplary tartare de boeuf and gaufre, and so much more. Anyone familiar with Golden Age Hospitality outlets (like Deux Chats and Le Dive) understands how important this culinary category is to Neidich—and how well its executed at his venues. “I guess I’m a Francophile at this point, right?” he asks. “For me, it is two-fold. First, my parents loved France; growing up and through my formative years, my family spent a week in Paris, a week in the south, and another week or two in another French-speaking country. It reached the point where, after high school, I decided to learn French, so I spent a month for a couple of summers in an intensive language program and living with a French family. Then, I lived in Paris for a semester—not going to school, just hanging out. I feel very at home in French culture.”

French restaurants are very much part of the fabric and history of New York culture and social life more than any other cuisine.

“There is something incredibly New York about French restaurants,” he adds. “They defined a whole generation of cuisine in the 1970s and ’80s and have anchored/created numerous neighborhoods. French restaurants are very much part of the fabric and history of New York culture and social life more than any other cuisine.”

Kruvant connects the menu with the changing nature of dining in New York City, where people prioritize flexibility. “We’d like people to be able to use the space as they want,” he says. “If you want to pop in for a glass of wine and have no food, you’re welcome to do that. If you want to have a drink with a snack or two—where you wonder, ‘is this dinner, or is it not’—you can do that. Or, you can come here, order several of the dishes and finish with some gelato and leave feeling full.” He adds that the interior design and ambiance align with this. “The music volume is low. You can settle in and chat,” he says. “Our goal here was to build a place where we want to be—where our friends want to be.”

Though there are nostalgic touches, this is far from a replica of a lost icon. There’s new energy, elegant cuisine and cozy design. Amidst this successful confluence, situated in the current cocktail list, is one additional holdover: the Shaggy. For those who may not recall, the Shaggy was Great Jones Cafe’s Dark & Stormy variation, and the recipe remains the same—Navy Strength Rum, Reed’s Extra Ginger Beer and lime. Anyone who wants a taste of the past can start here, but Elvis makes the a substantial case to then try something new.