RIP

Garces Pulls the Plug on Frohmans Wursthuas

Jose Garces
Jose Garces Photo: Collin Keefe

Last we checked in with Jose Garces, the Iron Chef was plenty busy with restaurant openings in Palm Springs, Scottsdale, AZ, and Revel in Atlantic City. Next up is the still unnamed “jewel box” going into the Kimmel Center later this year, or more likely sometime in early 2013. Though he was sort of cagey about long-overdue Frohmans Wursthuas, the perpetually stalled brats and beers joint that was supposed to open in the old Letto Deli space in Midtown Village, he told us it was still, sort of, a go. But from what we’ve gleaned from Inquirer critic Craig LaBan’s online chat this week — an excerpt appears in today’s print editions — the project is likely going to remain on hold for good.

LaBan told his chatty bunch that Garces told him recently that the project was “now off the table.” You’ll recall that the Wursthaus, named after the mythical sausage king of Chicago from the 1986 proto-slacker masterpiece Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, was first mentioned a little more than two years ago, when now defunct Vesper Hospitality Investments, LLC announced that it was partnering with Garces to bring a new concept to the shuttered Letto Deli. Prior to folding, the Vesper group pulled all references to Frohmans from its website, but the Garces camp maintained that it was still in the works.

This morning Garces reps confirmed for Grub that the Frohmans Wursthaus project is indeed dead. There’s no word on what will become of the Letto Deli space. Perhaps Stephen Starr will take a second crack at it.

Luscious summer produce; seconding a Starr review [Inquirer]

Earlier: Casino Boogieing With Jose Garces at Revel
Blue Bear Tavern Is Back On; Frohmans Wursthaus Still Stalled

Garces Pulls the Plug on Frohmans Wursthuas