Corks, Jerry Pellegrino's long-running Federal Hill restaurant at 1026 S. Charles St., has closed. The closing appears to have been unexpected -- a promotion for New Years Eve was still posted on the restaurant's website on Wednesday evening. Corks employees caught unprepared for the closing were allowed back into the restaurant on Wednesday to collect their personal belongings, including chefs' knives.
The closing was confirmed by the property's owner, Wayne Brokke.
Jerry Pellegrino opened Corks at 1026 S. Charles St. in 1997. In 2008, the restaurant re-opened, following a two-month closure, as a more casual version of it original self. By the time of its closing on Wednesday, Pellegrino was no longer the majority owner of Corks, according to Brokke, who said it had been purchased by Charles Nabit and Michael Klein. A weeks'-long shut-down earlier this spring was "due to mechanical problems," the restaurant said at the time.
Another restaurant Pellegrino was involved with, Abacrombie, closed earlier this year, while Waterfront Kitchen, a new Fells Point restaurant owned by Nabit and Klein, has identified Pellegrino as a consulting chef.
In a phone conversation, Brokke said that the closing of Corks marked "the end of an era" that began with the opening of his own restaurant in Federal Hill, The Soup Kitchen Ltd., in the late 1970s. In between The Soup Kitchen and Corks, a Middle Eastern restaurant named Tabrizi's (and, later, Daniel's) leased the restaurant space from Brokke.
"My grandmother used to say, 'all good things must come to an end," Brokke added. "I am sad, but confident that all involved will go on to be successful in future endeavors."
Brokke said Nabit and Klein had struggled to make a go of the business.
UPDATE: Dec. 22, 9:25 a.m.
Nabit and Klein issued a statement to the press on Thursday morning, confirming the closing. "The closure arose out of a dispute with the landlord over facilities repairs."
"This is not the way we would have chosen to resolve the dispute," Nabit says in the statement, "but we are pleased to say that Corks founding chef, Jerry Pellegrino, will continue working with us as a consultant for our new venture."
Nabit also said that all Corks gift certificates and dinner reservations will be honored at Waterfront Kitchen, and that cooking classes scheduled at Corks will now be held at the new restaurant.