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'Greek Martha Stewart' Closes UWS Restaurant Loi

By Emily Frost | July 2, 2014 6:23pm
 The Greek restaurant Loi closed as of Tuesday, July 1, 2014.
The Greek restaurant Loi closed as of Tuesday, July 1, 2014.
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DNAinfo/Emily Frost

UPPER WEST SIDE — The upscale Greek restaurant Loi closed its doors on West 70th Street less than four years after opening, citing a stalemate in its lease agreement. 

Named after owner Maria Loi, a well-known chef in her native Greece, the restaurant officially closed Tuesday, as originally reported by the West Side Rag. 

The restaurant was not able to reach an agreement with its landlord over a new lease, said Mel Wymore, a restaurant investor.

"We realized the metrics were not conducive to continuing at this location," he said. 

Loi said she was busy with meetings about a "new restaurant" and could not comment on the closure or her future plans. 

Wymore would not go into more detail either, explaining only that "she’s looking at some [locations] nearby and some far away."

The landlord could not immediately be reached. 

Loi has referred to herself as "the Martha Stewart of Greece," in part because she had her own cooking show in Greece before coming to the U.S., is the author of several cookbooks and has her own dinnerware line.

She's also described herself as an evangelist for cooking authentic Greek food in the U.S. 

Her latest book, "The Greek Diet: Look and Feel like a Greek God or Goddess and Lose up to Ten Pounds in Two Weeks" is due out from the publisher William Morrow in October.