Shelly Fireman, the colorful restaurateur who created long-lived Trattoria dell Arte and Fiorello and filled his places with his own whimsical, sometimes bawdy sculptures, passed away at age 93. His passing leaves a deep rupture in the city’s Italian hospitality scene.
“If New York City’s restaurant industry had a Hall of Fame, Shelly Fireman would be listed among the greats,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance. “He was a classic, one-of-a-kind restaurateur, whose beloved establishments spanned decades, a remarkable achievement in a notoriously difficult and changing business.”
His Fireman Hospitality Group’s eight Manhattan eateries include Redeye Grill (“Home of the Dancing Shrimp”), Brooklyn Diner and Trattoria Dell’Arte. The group also has several spots in Washington, DC. In total, the restaurants are on track to generate over $90 million in sales this year, according to CEO Ben Grossman.
Fireman, a Bronx-born Jew, called himself “Italian” for his love of the nation’s food and art. After opening a bagel shop in1963, he went on to found Fireman Hospitality Group, which launched Cafe Fiorello across from Lincoln Center in 1974.
An immediate hit, it earned New York Magazine’s honor for “Best Pizza in New York.” Fireman’s thin-crust pie drizzled with hot honey at Bond 45 remains a favorite. He joked that he discovered it at a place on Long Island and liked it so much, “I hired a guy from there to steal the recipe.”
More than most trend-chasing competitors, Fireman knew what Italian food-lovers wanted — but he never patronized them. He shunned the over-reaching “regional’’ stunts common elsewhere. I never tire of Trattoria dell’Arte’s housemade, very traditional ravioli. They’re stuffed with burrata mozzarella drenched in one of the city’s most intensely herbal tomato sauces.
Fireman opened Trattoria across from Carnegie Hall in 1988 and Bond 45, in the heart of the theater district, in 2005. It later moved to the Edison Hotel in 2018, on the same block as four Broadway shows including “Hamilton.”
“I always want to be near the crowds,” he told me.
Fireman enjoyed warm relationships with his neighbors. When Trattoria reopened after Covid-19, no less than Carnegie Hall’s artistic director Clive Gillinson praised its “great partnership with Shelly Fireman and Trattoria” and said “He does a wonderful job welcoming concertgoers before and after our shows.”
His places have outlived many rivals in a turbulent hospitality environment. Cafe Fiorello has been going strong for 51 years, Trattoria for 37 and Redeye Grill for 29.
A few others weren’t as lucky. When one of his places near Union Square conked out after barely a year — a victim of a dark scaffold that hid it from view— he was relieved to sublease it.
“I found somebody even dumber than me,” he laughed with characteristic good cheer.
Fireman was a painter and sculptor known for works such as life-size bronze nudes at Bond 45. No dilettante, he collaborated with artists such as Red Grooms, Peter Max and Milton Glaser, whose famous giant nose and lips greet guests at Trattoria dell’Arte.
He remained active till the end, opening Paris Bar at the Meridien Hotel on West 57th at age 93.
Fireman Hospitality Group will carry on without him. Grossman said a succession plan will ensure continuity. But customers will miss Shelly’s special gifts — and the unique brand of fun he brought to all of his restaurants.
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