I was talking to someone who used to work at Blaue Gans, and every time she referred to the restaurant as “Blau-ee Gahnz,” the “ee” threw me. Not long after, I called Marc Forgione, and the person who answered the phone pronounced the name as “Marc For-jee-ohn.” Having taken Italian in college, I always presumed it was “for-jee-oh-nay.” And then a friend who often interviews celebrities at the Smyth said the hotel’s name with a long i, like the singer of the band Scandal (and Mrs. John McEnroe) Patty Smyth. Suddenly, I was less sure it’s pronounced “smith.”

What’s a Tribeca expert to do? Call (or stop by) every business and ask! OK, not every business, but any of those about which there might be confusion—and there are a lot. Some will be obvious to you, but having been surprised several times, I decided to cast a wide net. First, here are the Italian- (and Latin-) derived names. I’m no expect at phonetics, so I did my best to make them as clear as possible. Put the stress where the italics are.

• Stuzzicheria stootz-eh-keh-ree-ah (“eh” isn’t really right—it’s more like in the vowel sound in “is”)
• Marc Forgione for-jee-own
• Ponte’s Restaurant pahn-teez (which used to be F.illi Ponte—fill-ee pahn-tee)
• Il Giglio eel jeel-eeh-oh
• Da Mikele dah mee-kay-leh
• Trattoria Cinque trah-toh-ree-ah cheen-kweh
• Il Mattone eel mah-tohn
• Mondo Cane mahn-doh cah-nay
• Scalini Fedeli skah-lee-nee feh-dell-ee
• Tre Sorelle tray sohr-ell (In Italian, it’s pronounced tray sohr-ell-eh, but they Franco-Americanized it)
• Ristorante Aglio ree-stoh-rahn-tay ah-lee-oh (Italians would say it more like ah-lyee-oh, but the restaurant is trying to keep it simple)
• Pane Panelle pah-nay pah-nell (In Italian, it’s pronounced pah-nell-eh, but they Franco-Americanized it)
• 2Spaghi doo spah-ghee (Romans drop the second-syllable “ay” from “due”)
• Sole di Capri soh-lay dee kah-pree
• Tutto Il Giorno too-toh eel jyor-noh
• Gran Morsi grahn mohr-see
• Adoro Lei ah-dohr-oh lay

And on to the French/Franglais:

• Desbrosses Street I defer to historian Oliver E. Allen, author of Tribeca: A Pictorial History: “The Des is most likely Dess, and I’d say the brosses rhymes with bosses. It’s hard to say, though: It’s an Anglicization of a French name, and we don’t know how people pronounced it when they first converted it to English.” I didn’t ask, but I assume the accent is on “brosses.”
• Bouley boo-lay
• Capsouto Frères cap-soo-toh frehr (the “Albert” in Albert Capsouto Park, meanwhile, should be “al-behr“)
• Capucine ca-pooh-seen
• Cercle Rouge cer-kleh roozh (the “kleh” is minimal)
• Petite Abeille peh-teet ah-bay
• Terroir Tribeca teh-rwahr (they said “teh-rwah” was too pretentious. Also, many folks call the place Terrier!)
• Corton cor-tohn
• Plein Sud plahn sood (according to a waiter) or playn sood (according to a Smyth concierge)
• Le Pain Quotidien leh pahn koh-ti-dee-yahn (well, that’s how I say it, but the “n” at the end is more of an implication than an actual sound; for LPQ’s official pronunciation, go here and listen to a man saying it over and over—someone should stick a beat behind it!)
• Racines NY rah-seen
• La Garçonne lah gar-sohn

Other foreign-derived names:

• Blaue Gans blau-eh gahnz
• Kaffe 1668 Kaffe is “coffee” in Swedish, but they say “café” like it’s French (and then “sixteen-sixty-eight”—why do so many people just call it Kaffe?)
• Otte awt
• Barzinho bar-zee-nyoh
• The Odeon oh-dee-ahn
• Churrascaria Tribeca choo-rah-scah-ree-ah
• Jungsik yung shik
• Kanlo Can-low
• Rosanjin roh-san-jin
• Tribeca Issey Miyake eee-say mee-yah-kay
• Canis Minor “Technically it’s cane-iss (like in canine) but most people say can-iss.”
• Zutto zoo-toh (the “zoo” is very quick)
• Sushi Azabu ah-zah-boo
• Nili Lotan nee-lee loh-tahn
• Polarn O. Pyret poh-larn-oh-peer-eht
• Agatha Ruiz de la Prada ah-gah-tah roo-ees day lah prah-dah
• Aire Ancient Baths eye-ray
• The Copenhagen The “a” in Copenhagen is long, as in “hay”
• Benares ben-ahr-ehs
• Shigure shih-guh-ray
• Fika fee-kuh
• Siring Asian Grill see-ring
• A Uno Tribeca ay (rhymes with hey) ooh-noh
• Stillfried Wien still-freed veen
• Uhuru ooh-hoo-roo

And then there are names that aren’t foreign-derived (or might be but I couldn’t bother looking have yet to look them up):

• Laight Street “Laight is definitely Late.” —Oliver E. Allen
• Smyth smith
• Adeline Adeline I’m not sure how to phoneticize it, but if you say “add-a-line” (twice), you’ll be fine.
• Pécan They didn’t know. I say pee-can because why else would the accent be there? Plus, it amuses me.
• Babesta bayb-stuh (like gangsta, but for babes)
• TriBeCafe try-beh-ca-fay (the last two syllables are pronounce like “café,” but I don’t know how to get the “ca” across)
• Vesey Street vee-see (says Oliver E. Allen)
• Lolë loh-lee
• Kutsher’s Tribeca cutt-shurs
• Masters & Pelavin (gallery) mass-terz and peh-lay-vin
• Annelore ann-eh-lohr
• Fiterman Hall fit-er-mehn
• Roberta Freymann fry-man
• Haus Alkire hoss al-ky-er
• Shinola shy-noh-luh
• Ruum room
• Gotan goh-tahn

A surprising number of businesses admitted that customers and suppliers often get their names wrong. Then again, many business said they didn’t care what you call them, just as long as you call them. If I missed any, let me know at tribecacitizen@gmail.com.