Angie Mar Gives A Fierce Farewell To The Beatrice Inn's Iconic Location

by Stephanie Maida · December 15, 2020

While I was too young to experience the Beatrice Inn in its den of debauchery phase under the stewardship of Paul Sevigny (in person, at least; I voraciously consumed any and all photos from the haunt via my high school desktop), I have been lucky enough to bask in the plush, clubhouse - not nightclub - like atmosphere of the Beatrice under Angie Mar. Like many New Yorkers do to many New York staples that feel like they'll be around forever, I probably took the place for granted. Now that the Beatrice, which has existed as one iteration or another for nearly 100 years at 285 West 12th Street, is departing its now-legendary subterranean space for good, I regret all of the after-gala drinks I turned down, the dinner dates I postponed.

OK, so maybe I'm being slightly dramatic (in the age of COVID, the subject of restaurants is sure to strike an emotional nerve), because no, the Beatrice isn't shuttering for good - it's only moving next door. After failed lease negotiations with the building's current landlord, Mar, who took over ownership of the restaurant from Graydon Carter in 2016 and turned it into the chicest spot for carnivores to eat and be seen, is starting the Beatrice's next chapter one building over. But that doesn't mean it wasn't hard to say goodbye.

After Governor Cuomo's announcement halting indoor dining this week forward in light of rising COVID cases, Mar made the decision to make this past Sunday the restaurant's last day of in-person service until it unveils its new location next spring. Following a bittersweet last hurrah in the dining room, the glamorous chef and restaurateur took to her Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to what the eatery has been, and a hopeful vision for what it will be. Considering the tension surrounding the situation, though, it's no surprise she ended her farewell with a slightly pointed, and totally iconic, message: "God help the [arrogant] fools who try to fill our shoes... We have a saying in our house, 'Après nous, le déluge.' Lady Beatrice would have it no other way."

I mean, I'd expect nothing less from a woman who knows her way around a meat cleaver.