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Less than two months after cutting the ribbon, a new Third Avenue business has shut its doors — and it’s not coming back.
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Le Fournil, the French boulangerie that opened a second Manhattan location at 1247 Third Avenue on February 28, has closed the Upper East Side shop. The bakery’s owners also closed a Park Slope outpost that had debuted less than a month earlier, leaving the original East Village location as the only one still operating.Owners Jean-François Hebert and his wife Elizabeth announced the closures in an Instagram story cited by @parkslopenews.
“There’s no easy way to say this, but due to circumstances outside of our control, both of our new locations (Upper East Side & Park Slope) have been closed,” the couple wrote. They did not elaborate on what those circumstances were.
The message struck a grateful note despite the setback. The Heberts thanked customers for “the overwhelming outpouring of support” during the short run, writing that the visits and messages “have meant more to us than we can ever fully express.” They added that they’re “moving forward stronger with many lessons learned” and are refocusing on the East Village flagship at 115 Second Avenue, “where we remain committed to delivering the quality and experience you know and love.”
A teasing parenthetical — “(for now 😉)” — suggested the couple may not be done expanding down the line.
Hebert is a third-generation baker from Normandy who took over the former Moishe’s space on Second Avenue to open Le Fournil in late 2019. His father and grandfather were bakers, and his great-grandfather was a miller. The Third Avenue storefront, between East 71st and East 72nd Streets, had previously housed a location of Julien Boulangerie before Le Fournil moved in. The Park Slope shop at 186 Fifth Avenue, between Sackett and Degraw Streets, was the bakery’s third location.
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