One recent chilly night in the NoLIta neighborhood of Manhattan, crowds squeezed into Cafe Gitane to attend a launch party for a book dedicated to the downtown institution, which in the 1990s became an intimidatingly cool canteen for the city’s models, actors and artists.
Guests mingled in the dimly lit French-Moroccan cafe while hits by Cocteau Twins and Air blasted from the speakers. People spilled out onto the sidewalk to converse over cigarettes and red wine. Hanging out by the bar was the 1990s supermodel Helena Christensen, a longtime Gitane regular.
“I have so many memories when I come here,” Ms. Christensen said. “The downtown landmarks like Cafe Gitane signify a time and vibe in New York that once was. Yes, the city has changed so much, but I still think Gitane is as cool as it always was.”
The book, “Cafe Gitane: 30 Years,” published by McNally Editions, is a coffee table tome that gives Gitane its due alongside haunts like Fanelli’s, Lucien, Raoul’s and the Odeon. It was written by Isobel Lola Brown, who worked as a Gitane waitress in her teens and studied literary journalism at Bennington College in Vermont. The book features interviews with glitzy regulars like Norman Reedus, Serge Becker and Inez van Lamsweerde, and it was photographed by Melanie Dunea.
There’s a recipe for the restaurant’s avocado toast (widely said to be the first served in New York City), an ode to the little green dress worn by Gitane waitresses and a Q&A with the reporter who wrote the Styles section article in The New York Times that was its first write-up. It also includes tales about how Cat Power was the cafe’s first server, how David Bowie loved the couscous so much he would have it delivered to his apartment and how Albert Hammond Jr. of the Strokes wooed a waitress he went on to marry.
