Cafe Gitane: 30 Years

Isobel Lola Brown

ISBN 10: 1946022764 / ISBN 13: 9781946022769

Published by McNally Editions, 2025

Seller Inventory # 3918934

Synopsis:

Gorgeously produced and full of fascinating interviews, profiles, and recipes, Café Gitane: 30 Years tells the story of the vibrant downtown New York culture that thrived in the '90s and 2000s through the lens of an iconic institution nestled at its heart.

Through the voices of patrons, artists, and locals who have frequented the beloved Cafe Gitane, readers are sent back to an analog New York, when NoLIta was still Little Italy, a quiet neighborhood tucked between SoHo and the Lower East Side, and downtown hummed with creative energy. Here a tiny, cosmopolitan French Moroccan cafe evolved into a cultural nexus: a meeting place and playground for everyone, from the most talented emerging artists to out-of-town visitors.

Cafe Gitane: 30 Years invites readers to savor the sights, sounds, and tastes of an establishment that has left an unusually lasting mark on an ever-shifting city. It chronicles not just a unique café, but a creative community—and a microcosm of New York itself.

McNally Jackson Books, Nolita’s neighborhood bookstore since 2004, is honored to be publishing this celebratory scrapbook. Indeed, Café Gitane commemorates the enduring spirit and connection shared by two downtown institutions and gathering places, whose entwined histories and evolutions help define the fabric of the city.

About the Authors:

Isobel Lola Brown was born in California and grew up shuttling between coasts, spending most of her childhood at Café Gitane in New York City. She is a recent graduate of Bennington College, where she studied Literary Journalism.

Melanie Dunea is an award-winning American photographer and author, best known for the book series My Last Supper as well as her revealing portraits of some of the world’s most celebrated artists, chefs, politicians, and intellectuals. Her works have been translated into several languages and have sold more than 70,000 copies worldwide. She has received awards from American Photography, PDN, Communication Arts, Graphis, the Society of Publication Designers, International Photography Awards, and the Lucie Foundation. My Last Supper, The Next Course won the Gourmand Award for Best in the World, USA for Photography. A native of Chicago, Dunea makes her home in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Cafe Gitane: 30 Years
Publisher: McNally Editions
Publication Date: 2025
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: New