Frank DePasquale Plans to Open Restaurant, Cafe, and Cooking School in Boston's North End

One of Boston's best known restaurateurs may be opening multiple new businesses within a North End space.

According to an article from Universal Hub, Frank DePasquale has proposed opening a restaurant, cafe, and cooking school where a vacant strip of storefronts between Hanover Street and Salem Street currently sits, with the plans also including an Italian furniture store and an Italian clothing store. The post mentions that DePasquale, who is behind Bricco, Mare, Il Panino, Assaggio, Fratelli, AquaPazza, Quattro, and Frank and Nick's, had purchased the entire Cross Street block in 2023 for $8 million last year.

The Zoning Board of Appeal gave its approval of the plans today, with one of the next steps being to meet with the Boston Licensing Board about the two-story restaurant and cafe.

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Le Cordon Bleu Closing All Culinary Schools in the U.S.

A well-known name among culinary schools is disappearing from the American landscape--and included among the closures is a location in the Boston area.

According to an article on the Eater site, all 16 locations of Le Cordon Bleu in the United States will be shutting down, with the final day for enrollment being January 4, 2016. The post indicates that the closures apparently stem from new government regulations limiting funding for career colleges, and that while the operator of the for-profit schools (Career Education Corporation) tried to sell them off, no agreement could be reached with a prospective buyer. Eater notes that the American locations of Le Cordon Bleu are not connected with the original in Paris (or those in other countries), and it appears that locations outside of the United States will indeed remain in operation.

According to its website, Le Cordon Bleu is "considered today the largest network of culinary and hospitality schools in the world," and it is known in part for being Julia Child's alma mater.

The location of Le Cordon Bleu on First Street in Cambridge is among the ones shutting down.

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