Amis, the Former Marc Vetri Restaurant, Closes for Good in Two Days

Amis Trattoria, the Italian eatery in Washington Square West that used to be part of Marc Vetri’s restaurant empire, is closing its doors for good after service on Sunday, June 23. Vetri opened the Roman restaurant on 13th and Waverly streets almost 10 years ago but is no longer involved in it.

To recap the Vetri restaurant saga: Chef Vetri and Jeff Benjamin opened their lauded flagship Vetri Cucina back in 1998. They waited a while and then went on to open several more restaurants, starting in 2007: Osteria, Amis, Alla Spina, Pizzeria Vetri, and Lo Spiedo (which later became Bar Amis).

In 2015, Vetri and Benjamin sold all of the restaurants except the original, Vetri Cucina, to Philly-based retail giant Urban Outfitters. They went with the sale, working with Urban Outfitters alongside Osteria’s chef-partner Jeff Michaud and Amis’s chef-partner Brad Spence — both Michaud and Spence had been at their restaurants since they opened.

Benjamin left Urban Outfitters first, in 2017, followed by Vetri. Alla Spina closed soon after. Michaud and restaurateur Michael Schulson stepped in to purchase Osteria.

Amis [official photo]

So that left Urban Outfitters with Pizzeria Vetri (including a few Philly-area locations, and a couple out of town that opened and closed); the first Amis; Bar Amis at the Navy Yard (where Urban Outfitters is headquartered); and two newer Amis locations in Westport, Connecticut, and Devon, Pennsylvania.

In May, word got out that Spence had just left and the original Amis’s days were numbered. It sounded like the restaurant would stay open until the lease ran out at the end of August.

But now, Urban Outfitters is confirming that Amis’s final day is Sunday. As in two days from now.

A spokesperson for the company said they announced the impending closure in the spring to give staff time to find new jobs — though it’s not immediately clear if the June versus August closing is connected to staffing.

Urban Outfitters maintains that the Devon and Connecticut locations will “continue to operate as usual.”

Meanwhile, if you’re wondering what Vetri’s been up to through all this: He opened Vetri Cucina in the Palms in Las Vegas, and has a restaurant in the works near the Italian Market.

• Here’s How Marc Vetri’s Vegas Restaurant Came About
• Marc Vetri Quits Urban Outfitters
• Marc Vetri Heads to South Philly for His Next Restaurant
• Flagship Amis Trattoria Location to Shutter this August
• From Track Suits to Tripe: Brad Spence, The Beast of Amis