Café Fiorello, Trattoria dell'Arte and Bond 45 set to go to Tilman Fertitta's Landry's in $22 million bankruptcy sale

Three of Manhattan's best-known pre-show restaurants are getting a new owner. Restaurant giant Landry's, owned by Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta, is taking over Café Fiorello, Trattoria dell'Arte and Bond 45 out of the bankruptcy of Fireman Hospitality Group, the New York Post first reported.

An affiliate of Fertitta Entertainment, FHG Acquisition LLC, was picked as the winning bidder after an Oct. 5 auction, with a bid of $22.237 million in cash plus other consideration, according to court documents obtained by Chron. The purchase agreement, filed Oct. 20, sets Oct. 30 as the closing date. Landry's had opened with a $9.5 million offer for just the three flagships, FSR magazine reported; the Post's source said the bankruptcy judge would not allow a bid for only part of the company, so Landry's teamed up with a co-bidder.

Who gets what

• Landry's: Café Fiorello, the Italian spot at 1900 Broadway across from Lincoln Center, open since 1974; Trattoria dell'Arte at 900 Seventh Ave., across from Carnegie Hall; and Bond 45, on a West 46th Street block with three Broadway theaters.
• Ciao Hospitality Group: Paris Bar in the Le Méridien Central Park hotel at 120 W. 57th St., the rooftop Le Jardin, Brooklyn Delicatessen, Café Paradiso and the two Manhattan Brooklyn Diners, CEO Jeff Crivello told the Post and Chron. FSR's report names TREW Capital Management, an investor in distressed restaurant chains, as the buyer of those venues.

For diners, nothing is supposed to change right away. A Landry's spokesperson told Chron the three restaurants will remain open and keep operating as normal, and Crivello said he also plans to keep his venues as they are. Some officers and employees have received or are expected to receive job offers from the new owners, FSR reported. The group's former CEO, Benjamin Grossman, who had backed a competing bid through a lender to the company, is not expected to stay on.

How the Fireman group got here

Shelly Fireman, who opened his first place in Greenwich Village in 1963 and built a portfolio around Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Theater District, died last October at 93. Several of his restaurants struggled after the pandemic, and the company ran up nearly $10 million in secured claims, the Post reported. It filed for Chapter 11 in August. Court papers said the business was losing money and had enough cash to keep running only through the end of October, according to FSR, which put the workforce at more than 800 employees. RedEye Grill, across from Carnegie Hall, closed in July after three decades.

The deal adds to Fertitta's New York holdings. Landry's owns steakhouse brands including Morton's, Mastro's, Del Frisco's and Strip House, plus Dos Caminos and Blue Fin, and Fertitta personally owns Keens Steakhouse and half of Catch Group, the Post noted. He is also the U.S. ambassador to Italy. As part of the deal, the group's two newer Washington, D.C., restaurants are closing this month, Eater NY reported.