How Marc Forgione Made Peasant His Own

Welcome to In the Weeds, a newsletter and publication that was recently described by another newsletter writer as “serving big insights and small stories about the independent restaurant industry.”

This edition is part one of a three-part series I’m calling “Under New Ownership.” Opening a new restaurant is hard, but what about taking over a restaurant that’s already operating? It’s complicated. I spoke to three restaurant owners about the process of buying and operating an established restaurant.

And there are a lot of opportunities to buy restaurants right now. The business broker We Sell Restaurants told me they are seeing a 15%-18% increase in listings, thanks to factors like demographic shifts. “A large number of restaurant owners are reaching retirement age without succession plans,” Robin Gagnon, the co-founder and CEO of We Sell Restaurants, said.

Also in this edition: A spot of good news on drink sales, how the quiet luxury trend is manifesting in fine dining, and the importance of the human touch in restaurants.

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During an event he hosted at Peasant in 2019, Marc Forgione delivered a speech expressing his appreciation for the restaurant and its longtime owner, Frank DeCarlo. Marc told attendees why he and many chefs keep coming back to the restaurant, which opened in New York City’s Nolita neighborhood in 1999 and is known for its wood-fired cooking and candlelit glow.

“I gave the welcome speech and professed my admiration and love for Frank and what he does,” Marc recalled during a phone conversation last week. “It was a stripped-down version of everything you wish you could do.” Peasant even influenced Marc’s eponymous restaurant in Tribeca. 

Less than a year later, when Frank was ready to sell, he asked Marc if he was interested.

It was complicated, but he was. 

“It was just, like, the weirdest thing. It’d be like a kid who likes the Yankees, somebody being like, ‘Do you want the Yankees?’” he recalled. 

Over the next few months, they quickly got the deal done. Marc decided not to close the restaurant for any extended period of time between the ownership change, so everyone at Peasant could keep their jobs.

It was important for Marc to keep the name. “I’m a big believer in historic spaces and restaurants. I’m very proud to keep a special restaurant like Peasant going.”

The name didn’t change, but the menu did.

Frank’s cooking was an “ode to Tuscany,” Marc said. The new Peasant is “a New York restaurant with an Italian accent.” Today, that translates into dishes like rigatoni alla vodka with broccolini and breadcrumbs and a suckling pig and polenta cooked over the fire. 

Taking over a beloved spot like Peasant would be a challenge at any time, but when Marc took over — January 2020 — made it even more so. Looking back, though, maybe the timing actually worked in his favor, he said.

When he reopened the restaurant, it was a little under the radar. He didn’t do much promotion because there was still some paperwork he needed to get in order. Still, word spread, and some regulars stopped coming when they realized Marc wasn’t doing Frank’s menu. “I knew there was going to be some backlash,” he said.

“But I didn’t waver,” Marc added. “If somebody was like, ‘Can you make Frank’s mushroom risotto?’ I would very kindly just say, ‘You know, I’m not Frank, but you can try the mushroom ravioli with cordyceps and sage that we just put on the menu.’ Some people bought into it, and others I haven’t seen since. But I couldn’t open it and try to pretend to be Frank.” 

Under Marc, the new Peasant started slowly, but it was just picking up when the pandemic shut down New York City in mid-March 2020. The restaurant pivoted to pizza (they called it Peasant Pizza for a bit) and built out a ton of outdoor seating. 

“When the dust settled, that’s when we really started to be a version of who we are now, and we’re still evolving. Trust me. I just hired a new chef, maybe two months ago. We’re putting new dishes on as we’re on this call,” he said. “It’s been a wild, wild ride, but knock on wood, we’re having our busiest first quarter.”

And that growth came about without the press that Marc, an award-winning, former “Iron Chef America” contestant, has received in the past. 

After a New York Times article announcing Marc’s planned takeover of Peasant ran in December, the new ownership didn’t get much attention, Marc said. But Peasant is going strong with a steady stream of neighbors and regulars.

“We’re packed, and everybody’s loving what we’re doing, but it’s funny, you would think taking over Peasant would have been bigger, [and given] more attention,” he said. “Instead, we got to, like, evolve as we wanted to, which maybe is a good thing.”

 Thank you, Marc, for sharing your story.

Speaking of human touches, MÅURICE, the French/Norwegian pastry luncheonette in Portland, Oregon, has these in spades. The mismatched vintage dishware, the weathered orange leather notebotbook the pastry chef referred to while I sat at the counter, the dried roses strung across the ceiling.

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—gloria