Popular Argentine Restaurant Novecento Closes After 25 Years In Soho

SOHO, NY — The international Argentine restaurant Novecento has closed after 25 years on West Broadway, Eater NY reports. Novecento was known for it's tried and true Argentine fare, such as their popular empanadas, and extensive drink menu.

The SoHo location at 343 W. Broadway was the first Novecento, opened in 1991 by Hector Rolotti, the president and CEO of Novecento Group. He later expanded the idea and opened 11 Novecento restaurants—in other U.S. locations, as well as in Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico.

“We’ve come a long way from a small yet well-loved coffee shop in SoHo – now a destination for great food and fun – but we’ve stayed true to the core elements that have built Novecento: great comfort food, drinks and music,” Rolotti told Miami's Community Newspapers when he opened the Miami restaurant in 2013.

Popular items at Novecento included: Picada Criolla, beef milanese, skirt steak, sangria and the dulce de leche crepe. Novecento also had two large TVs that streamed soccer games and a private event room upstairs used for rowdy parties.

In a bizarre and tragic twist of fate, Rolotti died in 2014 when he was on a spiritual retreat in India. Rolotti and his wife were with a group of about 30 people, and one member fell into the Ganges River. Six men jumped into the raging river waters to save the victim. Five of those men made it out, but Rolotti, 47, was swept away and his body was found six days later.

Novecento didn't immediately respond to a request for a comment.

Photo: NovecentoNyc/Instagram