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A New York City Flower Shop Turned Restaurant

A new Mediterranean restaurant and hookah lounge, inspired by the previous business at its location, opened in the Flatiron District last week.

Pergola, located at 36 W. 28th St., was home to the neighborhood destination and flower shop, Harry Vlachos. For decades, the shop was frequented by florists and notables alike, according to Pergola's manager, Sherri McGee.

Staying true to the building's history, Pergola has some elements of the the former business that will become more prominent when the weather breaks.

Vlachos' nephew still lives next door and will likely be happy to see that, like the flower shop before it, the restaurant will be in full bloom this spring. The space had roses from the floor to the ceiling when it belonged to his uncle and Pergola will be adorned in a similar fashion.

The large glass door at the front of the 3,700 square foot building remains, along with the skylights from the flower shop to allow plenty of light for the foliage — some of which will be used by the restaurant and bar.

Executive Chef Nester Moina, formerly of Remi Restaurant and Nerai in Midtown, used influences from Greece, Turkey and other countries across the Middle East to create the menu. There will also be an extensive tea menu and a hookah menu with 12 flavors.

Scott Fitzgerald, formerly of Mulberry Project, created the cocktail list.

McGee shared more information about Pergola with Design & Trend via email.

"Our owner Mohammed Abdallas was on his bicycle riding by fall 2012 and happened to see the space was closed up and paper in the window. After a little footwork he found the owner of the building and began negotiating without even seeing the inside. It is quite difficult to find a single story/single unit building in NYC. Especially with such character, the greenhouse sky lights, the garage door that open up to the entire space and a view of the Empire State Building!"

Above, the outside of Harry Vlachos before construction began for Pergola.

A staircase at Pergola. Photo by Efrain Duenas.

"Right now we have several different varieties, my favorite is a 7 ft clementine tree that smells amazing! Others include, boxwood, ivy, Red Aglanema, Zamioculas, several varieties of palm and fern trees. We definitely plan on implementing a ton of floral plants come spring time."

The upstairs of Pergola. Photo by Efrain Duenas.

"We also have plans for a indoor wall herb garden to use in our cocktails that already contain fresh tarragon thyme mint and rosemary."

The bar at Pergola. Photo by Efrain Duenas.

"Once inside, we realized the space was really a big empty box. We began chipping away at some of the leftover pieces of the flower shop. Behind three inches of poured concrete walls (used as insulation for the flower shop) we found original brick walls. They were gorgeous but took months to excavate clean and seal. Once that was done we really found our inspiration and wanted to follow through on our original plan of keeping the space clean organic a bit industrial (with large ducts and tin ceiling) and accent with as much natural plant life as possible."

Tables at Pergola. Photo by Efrain Duenas.