For 17 years, Stacy and Rocco Cadolini, the owners of the restaurant ROC, held court at the corner of Duane and Greenwich, so when they moved, it was a real shock to the neighborhood. Their roots here run deep: they were married at Tribeca Rooftop in 2003 and both their children were born here. They have resettled in Louisville, but their ties to the city are far from broken. Read on. (You may start planning a trip when you see the new ROC…)

Where and starting when did you live or work in Tribeca? And what did you do here?
ROC restaurant opened in April 2000. We operated ROC for 17 years on the corner of Duane & Greenwich, lived on Reade Street and raised two daughters, Alessia & Sofia, who both attended PS 234 and middle school at IS 289.

When did you leave and why?
We closed ROC Tribeca in February 2017 because NYC has made it impossible for small business owners to succeed. Astronomical rents, too many regulations, etc.

What are you doing now?
We still own our second restaurant, Baci & Abbracci, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which we opened 13 years ago. Our partners run it! Best pizza in NYC voted by Time Out Magazine! We moved to Louisville, KY, to open our third restaurant, ROC Louisville. We chose Louisville because it is the hometown of Stacy’s father, Jack Humphrey, and it is quickly becoming the next hot city in the country. Louisville is known for the Kentucky Derby, a billion-dollar bourbon business and for being a big foodie town.

Are you happy doing what you are doing now?
YES, very happy because now we own the building, instead of paying the rent to the landlord.

What brought you to Tribeca to begin with?
After living and working on the Upper East Side for 15 years, Rocco as manager at Elio’s iconic restaurant and Stacy as the chief concierge of the Essex House Hotel for 13 years, we looked all through the city for a restaurant location and had a positive and instinctual feeling when checking out Tribeca in late 1999.

What do you miss the most?
We miss the people, the energy of NYC and walking everywhere to the heartbeat of the city. The Tribeca community where we worked, lived, schooled and raised our family was extremely special.

What don’t you miss at all?
Traffic, bureaucracy, the daily grind.

When were you last here?
We visit regularly and stay at our uncle’s loft in Tribeca, so it feels like we are at home when visiting. Stacy’s parents live in Manhasset, Long Island, and we visit our restaurant in Williamsburg.

If you had a night/day/weekend here, what would you do?
Broadway show, museum/art galleries, dinner at our Baci & Abbracci, Chinese restaurant, bagels, shopping and visiting family and friends!

What’s a single moment that you loved about working here?
The First Annual ROC Halloween party that we created following the devastation after Sept 11, 2001, to build up the spirit, energy and cheer up the people in Tribeca, our little corner of the world. ROC continued that tradition every year.

So…what’s the future hold for you? What’s next?
It was very bittersweet to say goodbye to all the people we met and loved. It is amazing how many people far and wide have flown in to dine with us at ROC Louisville. You never know when we return to the BIG Apple to open another ROC NYC!