Gone?
Fine-Dining Temple Cru Is Threatened With Eviction" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
James Molesworth posted to Twitter recently:
“Cru is closed for vacation, according to a source. No truth to the rumor on Grub Street…”
http://twitter.com/jmolesworth1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Seems odd to close for vacation during busy summer months, no?
I’m not speculating, just from what I’ve read about the restaurant biz, closing a single day can kill business let alone 2 weeks.
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This ain’t a busy time, I can tell you. The restaurants I’ve been in this week have been empty. The whole town is!
But the eviction notice… that does suggest a problem: http://eater.com/archives/2009/08/evictions_cru_forgets_to_pay_the_rent.php#more" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I saw on Facebook that Michel Corvreaux, the sommelier, was saying that last night was his last night at Cru…he didn’t give any details…although he mentioned that they opened some nice wines to drink for the last night…mags of 05 Dujac Chambertin 89 Rayas and 83 Chave, 96 Roulot Meursault Perrieres, and 90 Clos Mesnil
it’s OK, only been planning private dining there for 14 on Sept 10th since May! this sucks.
Peter-
The summer is traditionally a pretty slow time for restaurants in the city. August is especially dead.
Tyler-
Cru lost their chef and now apparently their sommelier. The eviction notice is real. Doesn’t look good.
Brad
Manhattan is a ghost town from mid August through Labor Day.
I hope it isn’t true that Cru has closed but it surely wouldn’t be a shock if it is.
I’ve had many evenings of great food and wine with a lot of good, fun people. I will definitely miss going there.
Michel Couvreux will be the new head sommelier at Per Se.
industry folks got a lovely note from incumbent Roxane Shafaee-Moghadam to that effect yesterday evening.
Michael is the tall guy with glasses? And the shaved head (or at least a few years ago it was).
Michel, not Michael, by the way.
He took that job at Per Se about one month ago.
As for Cru, apparently, this was a planned closing for two weeks.
End of August in NY is a GHOST TOWN, Peter. This is the best time to close.
You’re probably thinking of Josh N who left about a year ago.
While Cru has closed in the past at the end of August, the rumored eviction notice puts a new spin on it.
How many more wine-centric destination restaurants will we see die before the end of the year? Locally, we have lost Lola and I would imagine that lots of places in Vegas are bleeding badly.
We lost Enoteca Vin earlier this year when the CWC folded.
Never knew his name, but very knowledgeable. Do you know where he ended up?
Went to the Oak Room in the Plaza for a few months but has since left and is now at Locanda Verde in the Greenwich Hotel.
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Good update, thanks Yaacov.
I read somewhere that TotG was [at least very recently] the highest-grossing restaurant in the USA.
New York’s Tavern on the Green files bankruptcy
Thursday, September 10, 2009
[u]news.yahoo.com[/u]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tavern on the Green, a landmark restaurant in New York’s Central Park, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday.
In court documents, the privately held restaurant, which opened its doors in 1934, listed both assets and debts in a range of $10 million to $50 million.
Tavern on the Green, known for romantic lighting and mirrors that made it a favorite spot for marriage proposals and tourists, can seat up to 1,500 people in six dining rooms. It is housed in a building that was originally designed as a sheepfold.
The restaurant was run by various managements till Warner LeRoy – the creator of the popular Maxwell’s Plum – acquired its lease after it was shut down by Restaurant Associates.
LeRoy reopened the restaurant in 1976 after spending about $10 million to renovate it and add original paintings, antique prints and etched mirrors.