Gotham Restaurants LLC, operator of Gotham Restaurant, better known by its former name of Gotham Bar and Grill, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday.
In the filing, the company listed its largest creditor as the New York State Department of Taxation Finance Bankruptcy/Special Procedures Section, which it owes nearly $484,000. It also owes tens of thousands of dollars to suppliers, the largest of which are Dairyland, which it owes nearly $97,000, and Baldor Specialty Foods, which it owes nearly $84,000. It also is indebted to credit card and utility companies and other service providers.
The 40-year-old restaurant, long a Manhattan fine-dining landmark, closed its doors in June as a result of what The New York Post called a cyberscam that cost it $45,000, which was enough to keep it from making payroll.
An outgoing phone message at the restaurant says it is closed for lunch and dinner service through August “to make a few improvements.”
The restaurant was opened in 1984 and Alfred Portale became executive chef and partner a year later. It soon became a fine-dining go-to in New York City, admired for, among other things, its dramatic presentations; Portale is credited for having invented “tall food,” in which many of a dish’s components were stacked on top of each other. It became a trend-forward style from the late ’80s through the turn of the century.
Over the years the restaurant attracted many young cooks who went on to become culinary stars in their own right, including Wylie Dufresne, Tom Colicchio, and Bill Telepan.
Portale parted ways with the other owners in 2019 (he currently operates Portale, an Italian restaurant eight blocks away) and was briefly replaced by Victoria Blamey, a culinary rising star at the time, whose innovation won her high praise, including a three-star review in the New York Times.
The restaurant closed during the COVID lockdown, reopening in 2021 with its longtime pastry chef, Ron Paprocki, taking the helm as executive chef as well.
The bankruptcy filing did not state whether the restaurant would remain in business but it did report assets of between $1 million and $10 million and said funds would be available to unsecured creditors.
Gotham Restaurants legal representation is Gabriel Del Virginia.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
