Just to follow-up
on this post, it seems that Col Legno is indeed gone for good. I walked by it again on Saturday to find the metal gate pulled up, revealing a make-shift wooden door behind it. Clearly, the interior is in the process of being gutted. I started chatting with an Irish bartender from across the street who was having a smoke on a nearby stoop, and he confirmed that the restaurant had indeed shut its doors. Evidently, Chris, Col Legno's owner, had been talking for a while about getting out of the restaurant business and finally decided that the time was right. As I understand it, the sushi restaurant next door has bought the space and will be breaking through the wall to expand their operation. I just wish I'd heard about Chris' plans before hand. I'd have loved to have had one last meal there and thank him for the many fine evenings my wife and I spent there over the years.
Meanwhile, another long-time neighborhood spot has apparently vacated its premises. Though officially closed to walk-in foot traffic since around 2003 (after which time you could only visit by appointment), the preeminent gallery/shop for acid-damaged rock poster art, Psychedelic Solution, looks like it has abandoned its long-held roost on the second floor of 33 West 8th Street. Its street-side window looks devoid of life or activity, and its shelves have been stripped bare (see picture below). I don't know how long this has been the case, but I noticed it early Sunday morning. Another vestige of West 8th street's incarnation as a haven for rock fans has been excised. No more freak flag flyin'.
I first went to Psychedelic Solution sometime in the spring of 1987 to see an exhibit of a truly bizarre art by one of my heroes, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo (see invite below). I also remember buying a specially designed deck of cards adorned with Mark's work there. A number of years later, I picked up an eye-seering poster from a show by Iggy & the Stooges at the Fillmore East, which I lovingly framed. Said poster now lives in storage, of course, but that's a rant for another day. The folks at Psychedelic Solution may have been hippies, but they certainly knew their stuff and presented the artwork with zealous reverence. It really broke me heart to see its space suspiciously vacant-looking yesterday morning.
I don't know if the recent opening of neo-posh, meat-packing-district-y eatery, Elettaria, had anything to do with Psychedelic Solution's sudden disappearance, but fuck it --- I'm-a blame them anyway.
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