A Greek restaurant and Chapel Hill centerpiece closes. Its owner vows it will return.
Kipos, a Triangle favorite for Greek food and a centerpiece of Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, has closed. But it plans to return in a new location.
The restaurant’s sign was removed over the weekend, setting off speculation that one of the prime pieces of restaurant owner Giorgios Bakatsias’ empire had closed for good.
Bakatsias vows that Kipos, an ode to Greek taverns, will return this summer.
In Chapel Hill, Kipos was Bakatsias’ vision of the Greek taverns he knew growing up, warm and homey, but with a pulsing energy. With lamb and octopus roasted over wood-fire, bright salads and shareable plates, Kipos was routinely named the Triangle’s best Greek restaurant by News & Observer food critic Greg Cox.
““I wanted (Kipos) to be one of the anchors of that street, it’s energy and vibration,” Bakatsias said. ““To say that we’re going to be closed, that was very difficult and painful. That building’s been in there a long time. It was very painful. I can’t say I didn’t lose sleep over this. It was tough.”
Lease deal didn’t come together
Bakatsias said that he hoped to work out a long-term lease for Kipos at 431 W. Franklin Street, but that a deal offering flexibility through the pandemic didn’t come together. The building, which houses other businesses and restaurants, including Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe, was purchased last summer for $10.8 million by a New Jersey-based real estate company.
“The COVID did influence that,” Bakatsias said of the closing. “There was no way to negotiate favorable terms, and I had another opportunity close by.”
Bakatsias said he expects to announce a new location for Kipos this summer and reopen within three months.
“It’s extremely close to my heart,” Bakatsias said. “When I opened that concept, I wanted to do an authentic Greek restaurant, rooted in and part of the community.”
Bakatsias is one of the most prolific restaurant owners in the Triangle, having opened his newest concept, Rosewater last year in Raleigh’s North Hills. A number of his restaurants have become institutions. In Durham, Vin Rouge is a beloved and lively take on a French brasserie, Bin 54 is the special occasion steakhouse, Parizade is a menu of shareable Greek dishes.
Since the shutdown two months ago, his restaurants Parizade and Local 22 have offered takeout meals. Those restaurants will close for the next month, but French restaurant Vin Rouge will reopen for takeout starting Thursday.
‘We have to write new chapters’
Currently, restaurants in North Carolina are closed to dine-in guests, but the state has offered an early look at a reopening plan that could see dining rooms return by the end of the month with limited capacity. Bakatsias said he appreciates the government’s efforts, but counts himself among restaurants owners who believe half-full dining rooms won’t be be successful.
“I’m not a big fan,” Bakatsias said of a reopening plan of half-capacity restaurants. “I understand it, I see it, but it’s not sustainable. It’s a good precaution, but not a recipe for success. It’s like, I tell you to jump in the pool, but halfway through the air I tell you don’t jump in the pool. You’re either going to swim or you’re not.”
The coronavirus pandemic poses an existential crisis for restaurants. Some Triangle restaurants have already closed or permanently morphed, with more likely to follow. Bakatsias considered the future by looking backward, to the hardships of his family growing up in Karitsa.
“A flower cannot blossom with fear,” Bakatsias said. “In my village, we did not grow up with fear. I would climb the trees and if I fall off the tree, my mother would patch me up and I’ll go back up. There was a lot of hardship.
“But we cannot come out of this wounded,” Bakatsias continued. “We have to come out with a clear heart. At the end of this we have the gift of life. We have to write new chapters.”
