Welcome to the Neighborhood: Sullaluna, 41 Carmine Street
Today we welcome a new small business to our neighborhoods — help us welcome the next. Tell us which new independent store in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo you’re excited about by emailing us at info@villagepreservation.org.
As advocates for local small business, we find great satisfaction in hearing of new independent establishments opening in our neighborhoods. These arrivals give us hope that reports of the death of mom-and-pops have been greatly exaggerated. Whenever such occasions present themselves, we like to share our enthusiasm with the world in the hopes that others will join us in wishing our new neighbors a warm welcome, and more tangibly, patronize and spread the word to help ensure their success and survival.
You can get one of two things if you mix illustrated children’s books with wine: a chaotic situation with possible legal repercussions, or a casual café where you can both relax and discover accessible ways to enrich the lives of children and even adults. Luckily for everyone, one of the newest businesses in the Village, Sullaluna at 41 Carmine Street in the South Village, has chosen the second path. This café offers a wonderfully curated selection of some of the most beautiful children’s books that you’re ever likely to encounter, as well as a space where you can browse them over a glass of wine or while having a snack. Today we welcome them to the neighborhood.
Sullaluna is the brainchild of Francesca Rizzi, who, along with her husband Rodolfo, first realized the concept for a café / bookstore in Venice in 2017. Francesca, who grew up in a family of art lovers, always had an appreciation for beautiful illustration, including that of children’s books. When she had children, she started acquiring during her travels unique exemplars of such books that were unavailable in Italy, and gradually amassed a small collection. Francesca marveled at the level of artistry that these publications made available for so modest a price. Beyond that, she valued the opportunity that these works offered to expose her children to a wide range of visual vocabularies and to a sophisticated interplay between text and illustration.
Francesca has also long cultivated, along with her passion for illustrated books, an interest in agriculture and, specifically, in sustainable agricultural practices. This interest found expression in her family’s small wine-making business. That endeavor dates back to her grandmother, an Armenian who fled Turkey during the genocide of 1915-16, immigrating to Paris and then to Venice, where she settled in the Armenian community then located in the island San Lazzaro degli Armeni. During WWII, she moved, along with her husband, to the countryside. A few decades later, the couple bought a small piece of farmland on the hills between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene—the area where Prosecco is made—and started producing wine under the name Prosecco Lunatico (named after the lunar cycle that dictates the cultivation schedule, not after the emotional state that the wine induces). Francesca and Rodolfo have continued this tradition, abiding by a commitment to sustainable methods that support local biodiversity.
Sullaluna (which means “on the moon” and takes the name from the wine) came about as a way for Francesca to bring together in one space two otherwise incongruous interests — high-quality illustrated children’s books and organic food and wine. The venue offered a place to relax, gather, and browse. It also offered Francesca a way to attract attention to exceptional work put out by small publishers and, in that way, foster “biodiversity” in the publishing industry — much as she does in her farm — and a more sustainable publishing landscape. Because of the bookstore’s specialized focus, Sullaluna also helped form through its programs a network among artists, writers, publishers, and customers. An opportunity to further expand that network presented itself when one of Francesca’s sons decided to move to New York. The Rizzis seized that opportunity and now hope to forge relations that bridge the Atlantic and build on existing bonds between Italy and New York.
The Rizzis found in Greenwich Village an ideal neighborhood for their outpost. It boasts a long history as a home for artists and for the arts; it has old connections to Italy; and, perhaps crucially, it felt to them like home. The new store follows in the footsteps of the original. Its menu offers simple Italian fare, aiming to minimize the café’s ecological footprint by emphasizing, instead of meat, seasonal, locally-sourced vegetables and, occasionally, seafood from sustainable fisheries. The space is open, bright, and welcoming. The wine is invigorating. And the books are stunning.
Sullaluna has hit the ground running, since opening a couple of months ago. It has brought to our shores works from small independent publishers like Topipittori, Orecchio Acerbo, and Terre di Mezzo. It hosted an event with 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Award-winner Sydney Smith and illustration expert Leonard Marcus. Then, two days later, it held a U.S. launch for a book by acclaimed author and illustrator team Matthew Burgess and Marc Majewski about legendary writer/artist Edward Gorey. And just like that, the Rizzis have started to accomplish the goal of bringing illustrators and authors into contact with new readers (including very young ones) and of forging another link between our island city and their own.
But Sullaluna is only just beginning to explore ways to connect with our neighborhood and its residents, schools, and organizations (including possibly our own). So we invite you to make their job easier by swinging by, welcoming them to the Village, and experiencing all they have to offer.
If you would like us to welcome another independent business to the neighborhood, please let us know at info@villagepreservation.org.