Best of the Buzz : Closings

NYC Closings: Café des Artistes, John Dory

BuzzEditor — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:26:00 GMT

This weekend saw two high-profile closings:

It's the end of an era: the Times reports that the 92-year-old Upper West Side classic Café des Artistes has closed its doors for good. Owners George and Jenifer Lang had shut down the restaurant for vacation earlier this month and decided it was better to not reopen. The future of the atmospheric space (and its historic murals) is up in the air, as is the restaurant's name – the building's owners hold the rights to it. For further reading, check out the 212/Blog, which has a personal piece from Jenifer Lang detailing reasons behind the decision.

Meanwhile, Eater broke the story on Saturday that John Dory, the Chelsea fin house from Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield, shut down after less than nine months. The duo expects to reopen, however, in a more accessible location. In the meantime, Dory employees are being shipped off to the Ace hotel, where Friedman and Bloomfield are opening the Breslin next month.

Bad Day for BR Guest

BuzzEditor — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:44:00 GMT

BR Guest today brought the ax down on three of its big properties due to economic woes, Eater reports. Effective today, the group's highly regarded NYC Italian Fiamma is closed, with the restaurant becoming an event space and chef Fabio Trabocchi going his separate way. The West 77th Street location of Ruby Foo's is also being shuttered, as is the Chicago outpost of Blue Water Grill. Finally, the Level V lounge beneath NYC's Meatpacking District Italian Vento is being rebranded and will reopen in the spring.

LA's Paperfish Closed Today

BuzzEditor — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:02:00 GMT

In what may be a harbinger of hard times to come, LA's high-profile über-chef/restaurateur Joachim Splichal (Patina Restaurant Group) closed his Westside seafooder, Paperfish, today, slightly less than one year after its much-heralded November 2007 opening. The restaurant's adjacent casual Market Café will be closing on November 14th. This shuttering is notable both because of its celebrity pedigree and its location in the midst of moneyed Beverly Hills. In a statement worthy of a campaign concession speech, Splichal issued a press release stating: "Much time, effort and creativity went into the foundation of the restaurant, but we had an option in our lease to return the space to our landlord, and with the current economic climate, it did not make sense to continue to foster this new concept." To which a local restaurateur (who asked to be unnamed) added, "I am afeared that this is just the beginning."

Best of the Buzz : Closings

NYC Closings: Café des Artistes, John Dory

Bad Day for BR Guest

LA's Paperfish Closed Today

– Merrill Shindler