Jean-Georges to Shutter Vong on Saturday (With Update)

Jean Georges, super restaurateur, well dressed Alsatian, and the man who plans to open 50 new restaurants by 2014, is about to let one go. Calls to the restaurant confirm that his 17 year-old Southeast Asian restaurant Vong, a mainstay of his empire at one time, will close this Saturday. The listing has already been stripped from the restaurant group's website.

This news comes eight months after JGV's last ditch effort to drum up business by offering Vong's 1992 menu...at 1992's prices (though, they looked pretty similar to 2009 prices in many other restaurants), an early sign of trouble. And it comes three years after Bruni, who snatched many a star from Vongerichten over his tenure, stripped two from the restaurant in a one-two Vong/Mercer Kitchen takedown. We await an official statement from JGV Enterprises regarding the shutter and what he'll do with the space should he keep it. Not a terribly great year for Jean-Georges' NYC empire.

UPDATE: Official word from Jean-Goerges' people: "Our lease was up and we decided not to renew. We are currently looking at other venues in which to reopen Vong in the near future."
· The Retro Vong Menu Revealed [~ENY~]