Thursday, June 16, 2011

Sprinkled Gino

Since the tragic closing of Gino, I have stricken from my mind what would become of it, the fact that a Beverly Hills cupcake chain would be moving in to this wonderful, classic New York spot. I repressed it, like a traumatic memory, and have not dared to venture anywhere near the new incarnation.

But blogger and JVNY reader Mitch Broder did. And he posted a photo. Gird your loins.


photo: Mitch Broder

It's so wrong in so many ways. One major way it's wrong is that it includes Gino's zebra wallpaper.

After the cupcake people announced they were moving in, a rep for the company said they planned to keep the iconic wallpaper to "pay homage to Gino," a sentiment to which Gino's co-owner Michael Miele responded: "We take our zebra with us."

And they did, stripping the walls of every last arrow and stripe.


Gino stripped, by Karen & Jon, 2010

The wallpaper was originally designed for Gino Circiello by Flora Scalamandre in 1945, expressly for the restaurant. Though it's been copied and displayed elsewhere, it is synonymous with Gino.

As we can see, the cupcake people, undeterred by Mr. Miele's wishes, went through the trouble of buying new zebra wallpaper and installing it anyway.


Gino, 2010, before being gutted

See Also:
Gino
Last Meal at Gino
Gino's Zebras
&
How the Cupcake Crumbled
Cupcake Trash
King Kong & Cupcakes
at

18 comments:

  1. EV GrieveJune 16, 2011 at 8:53 AM

    I girded my loins. Didn't help.

    Ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  2. maximum bobJune 16, 2011 at 9:18 AM

    Who the fuck buys cupcakes, anyway?
    The last cupcake I bought was a
    Hostess cupcake when I was in grade
    school.

    ReplyDelete
  3. James TaylorJune 16, 2011 at 10:22 AM

    If you disregard the zebra wallpaper that cupcake place kind of looks like a bank.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MarkJune 16, 2011 at 11:12 AM

    Really Revolting.

    I mean, Really!

    ReplyDelete
  5. esquared™June 16, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    passed by it last week, was gonna take a pic but it was at night and i only have a shitty mobile phone camera...

    nonetheless, just look at the customers in that pic :-X ...

    that.is.all

    ReplyDelete
  6. icsedge1June 16, 2011 at 12:45 PM

    let them eat cake! or better yet - a salad. lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. Laura Goggin PhotographyJune 16, 2011 at 2:39 PM

    I had no idea you could buy the Gino wallpaper...I want to cover my apartment with it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. SrLJune 16, 2011 at 7:13 PM

    @one time this wall paper was custom made for ginos. so now they broke the deal??? ginos could have opened a coffee & cake place, cafe & take out. guess i cant let this thing go. i was in ginos in 1967 my uncle was a regular. then i was a regular later in life. this + elaines is means its time to eat @ home.

    ReplyDelete
  9. EdJune 16, 2011 at 9:35 PM

    The original wallpaper made its way to a bar in Park Slope. It doesn't look too bad there.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jeremiah MossJune 16, 2011 at 9:39 PM

    Ed, what bar?

    ReplyDelete
  11. JillJune 16, 2011 at 11:12 PM

    My loins are still girded. I hope they aren't stuck that way forever.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jeremiah MossJune 17, 2011 at 8:11 AM

    people, you may now ungird your loins! and walk freely about the cabin. (Jill, don't hurt yourself.)

    ReplyDelete
  13. ShatteredMonocleJune 17, 2011 at 1:08 PM

    JM, it's in 5th Estate bar (formerly Royale) on 5th between 12th & 13th. The owner told me he used to eat at Gino as a child. The whole place has a b&w animal thing going on with an emphasis on zebras.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jeremiah MossJune 17, 2011 at 1:21 PM

    thanks. i saw that once, but is it the original stuff? or newly purchased?

    ReplyDelete
  15. ShatteredMonocleJune 17, 2011 at 1:46 PM

    It's definitely not from Gino, it's new. Gino's had that glossy finish (I'm not a wallpaper expert so maybe that was from years of food grease), whereas the bar and from the picture it looks like Sprinkle's also have a flat finish. Maybe this is the cheap-o line for imitators. The design is definitely not unique to Gino:

    http://www.blogcdn.com/www.shelterpop.com/media/2010/06/zebra-trendlet-2.jpg

    http://st.houzz.com/simages/126828_0_4-6587-traditional-bathroom.jpg

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v_wprpW2wfU/TfXk-H2PkkI/AAAAAAAAAhY/Ee_f_lzl63I/s400/KW-Scalamandre-Umbrella-Back.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  16. Jeremiah MossJune 17, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    true, it was designed for Gino, with Gino's input, but has since been available to anyone who can afford it.

    i was hoping somehow the original had been transported somewhere. oh well.

    ReplyDelete
  17. ShatteredMonocleJune 17, 2011 at 2:41 PM

    Has anyone heard any news about Michael of Gino opening another place?

    ReplyDelete
  18. James Campbell TaylorDecember 1, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    I just realized that zebra wallpaper was also used in Wes Anderson movie, The Royal Tenembaums.

    http://www.designsponge.com/2011/10/living-in-the-royal-tenenbaums.html

    ReplyDelete

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