Cozy, casual, very French Robin des Bois, a Smith Street fixture, closes after 12 years.
Photo by Johannes Kroemer, a Carroll Gardens photographer.
Following the news of the closure of neighborhood fixture Fall Cafe, on Smith near Union, more sad closings: Robin des Bois is shuttered. The French bistro, decorated over every-inch with the fantastic antique French collections of owner Bernard De Canali, was a neighborhood favorite, with its cozy fireplace-lit dining room and romantic/chic back garden serving brunch and dinner.
DeCanali was an early pioneer of Smith Street, opening Robin des Bois, near Warren, as an antique shop with a coffee bar back in 2000, and slowly adding the dinner and brunch menus that were so popular.
The Frenchman, who also organized the first pentanque tournament for Smith Street’s large Bastille Day festival, had grown weary of late with all the changes happening on Smith, with the gentrification and increased prices and onslaught of Manhattan expats.
Robin des Bois, we will miss gorging on your meat and cheese plate over too many glasses of wine, your roast chicken and lovely trout, and your great bartenders. Smith Street won’t be the same without you.
