Albert Capsouto, Pioneer Restaurateur and Civic Leader, Dies at 53
Just two months after a diagnosis of brain cancer, pioneering Tribeca restaurateur and civic leader Albert Capsouto died Tuesday morning at the age of 53.
Capsouto, with brothers Jacques and Samuel, established the French restaurant Capsouto Freres in 1980 on the ground floor of the Fleming Smith Warehouse at 451 Washington St., a landmark in the then desolate and sparsely populated outreaches of northern Tribeca.
A 19-year veteran of Community Board 1, Capsouto served for several years as the chair of the board’s Tribeca Committee. Those who served with him recall Capsouto as a thoughtful board member who cared deeply about the community and a quiet but passionate voice for local small businesses.
“He fought tirelessly to make our neighborhood a better place and did so with dedication, commitment, love and humor,” CB1 chair Julie Menin said in a statement to fellow board members.
Michael Connolly, who served with Capsouto for many years on CB1, called him “thoughtful and caring in the way he approached life and friendship and community. He was a treasure.”
“He did not seek fame and fortune, he did not care about getting his name in the paper as so many others do,” former CB1 chair Madelyn Wils and close friend of Capsouto said in a telephone interview, “but he just cared deeply about the community and about small business.”
For his advocacy on behalf of small businesses following the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) awarded Capsouto its Phoenix Award for Small Business Economic Injury Recovery. Many remember the Capsoutos for providing free meals and a friendly place to gather when few Tribeca restaurants were open after Sept. 11.
The youngest of the three brothers, Capsouto was born in Egypt and moved with his family at age 5 to Lyon, France. They moved again, in 1961, to New York City. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School, and Yale University with a degree in architecture and engineering. As a student, Capsouto gained his first restaurant experience waiting tables while his brothers managed a restaurant in Soho. The three built Capsouto Freres largely with their own labor, taking on the design, plumbing, electrical and carpentry work themselves.
Carole DeSaram, a long-time north Tribeca resident, recalls first meeting Capsouto in the late 1970s, when he and his brother were painting the railing on what had been the warehouse’s loading dock.
“It was like the only restaurant around and the food was great,” she recalled. “And it was really nice because you could just walk home.”
“I don’t think anyone in the community could ever walk past that restaurant now and not feel the loss of his presence there,” she added.
Funeral services were held Wednesday at Riverside Memorial Chapel.
By Carl Glassman