After 37 Years, TriBeCa Eatery To Close, as Bouley Expands

A TriBeCa restaurant long known for close community ties will close its doors tomorrow and a new restaurant venture from David Bouley could move into the space as soon as Thursday, the landlord for the building, Kenneth DuBow, said yesterday.

The Delphi Restaurant, which opened in 1970, served its last meal on Saturday night, staying open until 3 a.m., a waitress at the Greek eatery for nearly a decade, Koula Kouroudalakis, said. The restaurant is closing because of a clause in its 12-year old lease that would increase the rent to$55,000 a month starting November 1, up from its current $11,000.

Yesterday, the restaurant's owners and employees were moving equipment out of the West Broadway space.

Ms. Kouroudalakis, 48, said she was saddened by the way things ended. "It's not about what the neighbors or the community wants, it's about what the landlord wants always, and that's what's sad," she said.

David Bouley, who currently operates two restaurants, Bouley and Bouley Bakery, across the street from Delphi, will open an upscale Japanese-themed restaurant called Brushstrokes in the space, Mr. DuBow, who is the director of real estate at Century Realty, said.

The owner of Delphi, Vasilis Moutsatsos, said Mr. Bouley is renting the two-floor space for $25,000 a month.

Mr. DuBow said he had been negotiating with Delphi for four years, but that they could not agree on a lease. "It was in our interest to do the deal with him," Mr. Dubow said.

Mr. Moutsatsos said he wants to reopen the restaurant in TriBeCa and is already scouting real estate. On Saturday night, he collected more than 200 names and phone numbers of patrons and promised to notify them when he would reopen.

The manager of a women's clothing store several doors down from Delphi, A Uno, lamented the restaurant's closing and what it represents for the now-chic neighborhood.

"Bouley is building an empire. I admire his business sense, but he's oversaturating the area," Ruth Byers, who relocated to TriBeCa after rising rents pushed her out of SoHo, said. "The whole area is highly transformed."