Plans for new bar restaurant in Low Petergate in York

Decio Franca has applied to City of York Council for a late night licensing application to sell alcohol in the former Grön cafe and bar premises, which before that were run by Filmore & Union in Low Petergate.

The plan is to open Monday – Sunday 8am – 12.30am and the business is nextdoor to one of Decio's other York businesses, La Vecchia Scuola at 62 Low Petergate.

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The old Grön cafe and bar was headed up by Horsforth-born Matt Healy, who was runner-up in Masterchef: The Professionals in 2016, offering a menu of vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes created by Matt.

Grön closed some time ago and the building has been sitting empty ever since.

But now work is well underway inside the small unit to fit it out for it's new incarnation.

Low Petergate itself only reopened to traffic on Monday (July 24) after being closed for the best part of a year.

The work started back in October last year and barriers went up after structural issues were discovered with one of the buildings on the opposite side of the street.

As The Press reported earlier this year, Decio is also one half of the duo behind La Piazza Antica in Goodramgate which he runs along with Arjan Boci.

Decio Franca is planning to open a new bar restaurant in Low Petergate (Image: Haydn Lewis)

As The Press reported at the time, back in 2020, the leasehold of that Grade I listed building went on the market then at an asking price of £150,000.

And at that time the business had been owned and operated for 25 years by Emilio Comito and his family who were selling in order to enjoy their retirement. 

The late-medieval half-timbered building dates back to the late 15th or early 16th century.

It is owned by York Conservation Trust due to its age and history, which includes an intriguing tale of Yorkshire’s saddest ghost, Marmaduke Buckle, who lived in the property between 1697 and 1715.