'Naked Chef' Closes Lower East Side Restaurant

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — The Lower East Side restaurant opened by underwear model-turned-chef-turned-internet celebrity Franco Noriega shut its doors this month because electrical problems at the building were hampering business, a spokesman for the restaurant said.

The original location of Baby Brasa, Noriega's restaurant, opened at 129 Allen St. in 2016. The restaurant relied heavily on Noriega's internet fame as a the "naked chef," a moniker he earned while recording online cooking tutorials wearing an apron and not much else.

Baby Brasa's small Lower East Side outpost was closed this month because of frequent "electric outages" in the building, a spokesman said. The company is hoping to open a new location in Hell's Kitchen, he added.

Last year, Baby Brasa opened its second location in the West Village at 173 7th Ave. S.

Baby Brasa models itself after Peruvian pollerías and focuses on serving healthy and responsibly sourced meals, with the rotisserie chicken as its signature dish. Noriega, who previously worked as a model for brands including Dolce & Gabbana and Burberry, was born to a Peruvian family of restaurant owners before studying at Le Cordon Blue, according to Baby Brasa's website. Somewhere between working as an underwear model and becoming a New York City restauranteur he found a happy medium creating cooking videos as the "naked chef." Along with his You Tube tutorials, Noriega has proved a popular guest on TV shows like "Ellen"and has even been the subject of a BuzzFeed quiz.

Image credit: Courtesy of Baby Brasa