UPPER WEST SIDE — Beloved farm-to-table restaurant Telepan closed its doors Sunday after more than a decade in the neighborhood.
Chef/owner Bill Telepan cited rising rents and slim profit margins for his decision to shutter the eatery, which has occupied the ground floor of a brownstone at 72 W. 69th Street since 2005.
“Like most restaurants, we operate with very small margins,” Telepan wrote in an email Monday morning. “As our costs go up each year and our revenue has not kept pace, we have been operating at a loss and cannot sustain the business."
Telepan earned a Michelin Star in 2014 and two stars from The New York Times when it first opened.
In an interview with DNAinfo in March, Telepan discussed the fact that staple Upper West Side restaurants — such as Harry's Burritos and Ouest — were being priced out of the neighborhood.
“I don't think there's anything other than their rent went way up too high and margins are slim,” he said. “The rents are too high and it's harder and harder.”
Telepan thanked the restaurant's regulars in a statement on its website.
“We are enormously grateful to all of our loyal customers,” the note said. "We are happy that we’ve been able to celebrate so many occasions with you over the years and that so many of you have become our friends.”
Regulars and fellow restaurateurs took to Twitter to express their despair.
@Telepan closed?It represented everything I love about restaurants: a warm welcome, terrific food,caring service & a chef who gave a damn.
— edlevine (@edlevine) May 16, 2016
ST dangerously wrong w/NYC when a true great closes @billtelepan you r 1 of our heroes, a great Chef & gentleman 😢 ♡ https://t.co/jDrTPuV1nb
— PearlOysterBar (@PearlOysterBar) May 16, 2016
@billtelepan Where shall your heartbroken fans dine now? Without your delightful creations, we will all likely lose the will to live.
— Alexandra Phipps (@msbreckinridge) May 16, 2016
