BY JACK KEEFE

In print | Published March 20, 2008

Da Vinci’s Café, located at 1 Park Avenue in the Ville, has closed as of March 1, according to Chris Bruno, the café‘s owner. In an e-mail message sent to The Phoenix, Bruno confirmed the closing of his store, but declined to comment further at this time. Over the last few weeks, the status of Da Vinci’s had been questioned by observers who noticed that the store had been closed for an extended period of time and that many pieces of decoration and furniture were visibly missing.

In early February, Bruno had told The Phoenix that he had no intention of selling the store, and that an anonymous “for-sale” advertisement of the café, which had appeared on the online classifieds site Craigslist, had not been posted by him. The identity of the individual who posted that advertisement is still unknown.

According to former employee Sasha Grenier ‘08, who worked at Da Vinci’s up to the closing, Bruno had told his employees that the store’s lease ran out and that “some other people were going to take over” in June. Grenier said that Bruno had told her of this a few weeks after the anonymous ad was placed on Craigslist.

Though Grenier said that Bruno had informed one employee the night before Da Vinci’s closing, she said that Bruno had not told anyone else that the store would be closing earlier than June. Grenier had been under the impression that “[Bruno] was surviving” and that the restaurant would continue running the way it was until June. “It’s really disappointing, considering that I became unemployed from one day to the next without warning,” Grenier said.

Bruno did not reply by press time to further requests for comment on Grenier’s remarks or for further context as to the restaurant’s closing.

The closing of Da Vinci’s was further confirmed by Carol Savery, administrative assistant at the Swarthmore Borough Administrative Office, and by Marty Spiegel, the Town Center Coordinator for the borough.

According to Spiegel, plans are underway for another business to fill the space vacated by Da Vinci’s. “There’s nothing definite in terms of timeframe or anything else that I think would be appropriate to discuss at this point, but as those plans unfold, I’m sure that much more will become available for publication,” Spiegel said.

Aside from ensuring that the next business occupying the space is compliant with all necessary ordinances and regulations, Spiegel said, “the borough doesn’t have any more role [in this case] than they would for any other specific business.”

While the future of the vacant space at is not yet certain, Spiegel said that it is the hope of the borough that the space will be used for a new restaurant.

According to Grenier, Bruno had told his employees that come June the space would host a “fancy” restaurant with Mediterranean cuisine, and that the new tenants were planning on renovating Da Vinci’s kitchen.

However, William J. Pastuszek Real Estate, the agency that owns the property at 1 Park Avenue, would not confirm any information about who will be leasing the property next. A representative of the agency who declined to be identified said that the “details are in the works” regarding the future of the property. The individual declined to confirm whether the property was undergoing a change in ownership, but said that more information may be forthcoming.

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