Jose Garces Sells Most of His Restaurants, Two Will Close
The chef will stay on as chief culinary officer as part of the deal.
Chef Jose Garces (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Jose Garces just sold much of his restaurant empire to a new entity, and two Garces concepts will close.
A Camden U.S. bankruptcy court approved the sale of several Garces properties in Philadelphia New Jersey, and New York yesterday, according to Philly.com.
In exchange for $8 million and assumed liabilities, 3BM1, a new entity that’s a partnership between local investor David Maser and Louisiana’s Ballard Brands, will now control several Garces properties: Amada, Garces Events, JG Domestic, Olde Bar, Tinto, Village Whiskey, and Volvér.
3BM1 will also control contracts to operate other Garces properties in New York and New Jersey like Okatshe and Olón at Atlantic City’s Tropicana, Lafayette Hill’s CHUBB Conference Center, Ortzi in New York, and Amada and Distrito locations at Ocean Resort in Atlantic City.
Some Garces properties, like the original Distrito in University City and taco concept Buena Onda, will remain open and unaffected by the sale. (Garces recently closed the Moorestown, New Jersey location of Distrito.)
Garces himself will serve as 3BM1’s chief culinary officer. The entities that remain open will continue to operate without changes, the company said in a statement.
Two concepts didn’t make it out of the sale alive: 24 will close after this Saturday’s service, and Garces Trading Co. will close after brunch on Sunday.
The first lawsuits from unpaid vendors to Garces Group properties came last September; the chef has struggled to keep the restaurant group afloat. While the sale is a step forward for the chef, two groups of investors still have litigation pending against him.
