Brasserie Perrier is gone

The landlord came to Brasserie Perrier on New Year's Eve bearing a bottle of Champagne - and the sudden end of an era.

The celebrated Brasserie, an 11-year fixture on Walnut Street and Georges Perrier's second restaurant, would close for good that night with little warning. The staff would not get official word until after more than 285 customers had been served their New Year's feast.

But the deal, long in the works, had been sealed late that afternoon when landlord Dan Dilella of Vesper Group Properties arrived with the paperwork to release Brasserie early from its lease so it could be replaced with a more lucrative retail tenant. The signing took place over a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.

"It was not an easy decision," said Perrier, who opened the bistro in 1997 as a more casual and contemporary sibling to his haute-cuisine jewel, Le Bec-Fin. "But he gave us an offer we could not refuse."

Chris Scarduzio, Perrier's co-owner and chef, said more than half of Brasserie's 60 employees would be asked to relocate to one of the group's other restaurants: Table 31 in the Comcast Center, Georges' in Wayne, Mia in Atlantic City, or Le Bec-Fin.

Rumors had been swirling for much of the week, and managers were forewarned of the imminent closing.

"There were a lot of hugs and a lot of tears . . . because Brasserie had a fabulous run," Scarduzio said. "But we feel good knowing that we went out on a high note with high emotions and a packed house."

Perrier said outstanding gift cards would be honored at Le Bec-Fin, Table 31 and Georges', and that 2009 bookings may be transferred to any of the three with the contracted menus and pricing.

Brasserie's revenues have been off this year from 5 percent to 10 percent, according to Scarduzio and Perrier. But the closure was more related to long-term lease issues than pressure from the financial crisis that is hurting so many local restaurants, they said.

The restaurant has been paying the 1996 rate of $19 a square foot for rent at 1619 Walnut, a fraction of what retail tenants currently bring. When Perrier and Scarduzio declined to renegotiate a higher rate for their lease, which was to expire in October, both parties agreed to an early release.

"This price would be $120 to $140 a square foot," said Larry Steinberg, a Center City retail real estate broker with the Michael Salove Co. That's "at least 10 times the rent they are paying now. That is the going rate of retail on Walnut Street."