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A year after filing for bankruptcy reorganization for his restaurants, Neil Stein is hanging on to the last of what were once some of Philadelphia's hippest nightspots.
Of the four restaurants Neil Stein had at the beginning of last year, two have slipped from his grasp. Avenue B closed in May. Striped Bass closed in the fall, then was sold to rival Stephen Starr, who plans to reopen the stylish restaurant early next month.
Two others - Rouge and Bleu, which are within doors of one another on Rittenhouse Square - hang in the balance, with Stein and partners waging battles for control. In each case, Stein could ultimately come out the loser.
"I'm getting up every morning, trying desperately to have my life come back," Stein said.
That life was the creator of the city's top restaurants - up there with Georges Perrier of Le Bec-Fin and Starr, who owns several prime restaurants.
In a nutshell, Stein's legacy dates to 1973, when he opened his first restaurant. He may have reached his peak in 2000, with the opening of Avenue B, the showpiece restaurant across from the future Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in December 2001.
Each restaurant had its own personality.
Striped Bass, which opened inn 1994 with palm trees and rattan furniture decorating a former brokerage house, had a perennial four-star rating from the Mobil Travel Guide. Bleu, with its dark wood and artsy feel, attracted a younger crowd, while, three doors away, he crowds at the plush Rouge routinely overflowed onto a sidewalk cafe.
"He's had a great influence. The opening of Striped Bass was a significant departure, showing Philadelphia what was possible...