[title]
When the super-secretive Greenwich Village restaurant Frog Club announced it was going to accept reservations via Resy in May, I wondered if it was a sign of its end.
Although the mysterious destination at 86 Bedford Street in the former Chumley’s space still warned patrons about its long list of rules (no photos! No lying about it being your birthday! No requests for free meals!), the eatery suddenly became more accessible to the masses, whose interest in dining on-site likely stemmed from the restaurant’s cryptic nature (we are New Yorkers, after all).
RECOMMENDED: Iconic midtown bar Subway Inn to close before the end of the year
Alas, all that covertness has not paid off: Liz Johnson, one of the two chefs behind the effort, announced on Instagram that the space will be closing this week.
"To my fellow New Yorkers: I’m here today to talk to you about the future of Frog Club. I regret to inform you that this will be our last week we are open," reads the post. "We will be serving a bar only menu this Tuesday through Saturday, 7pm to midnight. We’d love to have you stop in and say your goodbyes. Chef Liz signing out."
Although far from rejoicing at the closure of any local business, I must admit I’m wondering whether we have finally reached the end of the sort of restaurant spectacles that have seemed to define the last few years. Is this shuttering, perhaps, a signal to the return of more traditional dining experiences where patrons are allowed to do as they wish within the confines of propriety and respect? I surely hope so.