I worked in the old leather district in the early 80s when it was a completely deserted area and there was an actual "Dewey Square". There was the brightly painted facade of the already shuttered Gallery East, a performance space fondly remembered by now very aged punk rockers, if any are left. There was a very interesting used bookstore that seemed to be half porn and half everything else called Cornhill Bookstore. There was the South Street Diner's earlier incarnation as the Blue Diner, when it served actual diner food (and reasonably cheap!), and that was about it. Then a more upscale restaurant opened in the location where Les Zygomates would later be. It was called Cecil's, and it was the first of many places to follow as the area revitalized. It wasn't a bad place. It became very successful for a number of years.

The Cecil's FOH staff moved

By bibliotequetressnotloggedin... on Fri, 07/03/2020 - 6:53pm.

The Cecil's FOH staff moved over to the Loading Zone when it opened-- Katherine & Rac. Good people.

I wish I could remember the name of the packie that delivered in the area-- it had been grandfathered under some transmogrification of the blue laws and was the only place I can recall, until recently, that you could dial for beer. Was it Lenny's?

There was also a gay bookstore that pre-dated Calamus, but I cannot remeber the name of that, either!

Glad Day?

By anon on Sat, 07/04/2020 - 9:22pm.

Was it the Glad Day Bookstore? At one time or another it was in Copley Square, then West Street, then someplace else. Also, Janet LaValley of Tribe was a waitress at Cecil's for a while.

Cecil’s

By Gary C on Sat, 07/04/2020 - 4:57pm.

When I worked in the leather District from 1985 to 1987 we used to go to Cecil’s after work for Long Island Ice Teas. We knew the bartender and the staff, and even though we were all riding the T, they always cut us off after two of them. Good times and good drinks.

Oh, c'mon!

By J.R. Dobbs on Fri, 07/03/2020 - 10:32am.

It was the only place left I actually enjoyed going to in that area since downtown became chock full of basics.

I miss the old fort point.

VIVA LES ZYG!

An au revoir that won't be revoiring...

By Turalura Lipschitz on Fri, 07/03/2020 - 2:24pm.

is called an adieu.

Je vous en prie.

my real question for you is,

By locke on Fri, 07/03/2020 - 7:19pm.

my real question for you is, pain au chocolat o chocolatine?

Haven't gone in ages since

By anon on Fri, 07/03/2020 - 5:27pm.

Haven't gone in ages since for us it's
a splurge, but sorry to see Les Zyg go as we've had several wonderful special occasion dinners there over the years. Another one bites the dust!

Many great nights at Les Zyg over the years listening to

By MC Slim JB on Fri, 07/03/2020 - 11:06pm.

live music, mostly jazz, never a cover. My favorite evening involved taking a dozen friends to sit in front of the stage for dinner, a lot of wine, and a performance by Ziaf, an all-women punk-rock band in its previous incarnation and name that had reconfigured itself to do modern, electric interpretations of Edith Piaf: so frickin' great. I bought their CD that night, ripped it, still play it regularly ten years on. (Check 'em out on YouTube.)

The joint always had solid, traditional French bistro fare at actual bistro prices, and was one of the first places in Boston to do raw bar that wasn't a seafood tourist trap or luxury steakhouse. I loved the fact that it had two rooms: if you wanted quiet conversation, you could opt for the non-music side. I often recommended it as a first-date venue.

And it once was one of the city's most serious wine bars back when we had few options there: nice prices by the two-ounce pour, glass, half-bottle and bottle across a deep list. It had faded sharply on that score in recent years, and the food prices had crept up uncomfortably, but to me it's still a permanent loss dragging a trail of ineffable nostalgia, one of many already, with many more to come, alas.

Too bad it's a fallen world. RIP.

Leather District French place says au revoir, except it won't be revoiring

Comments

Nooo!!!

Bummer...

Some History