Thuet opens one, closes another

Marc Thuet and Biana Zorich are adding a new outpost to their empire, just as they close the dining room at Atelier Thuet. The second location of Petite Thuet will open at 1 King Street West in two weeks. The new bakery-café in the financial district will offer pastries, bread and coffee in a 900-square-foot space that’s directly across the street from a Starbucks. There has been little buzz about the opening thus far, but Zorich assures us that it is no secret—rather, she says, “It’s so small, should we even bother to do a press release?”

Meanwhile, in Liberty Village, the dining space at Atelier Thuet has been shuttered, due to dwindling business (though the attached bar and food shop remain open). Zorich says that she thinks the area is not yet developed enough to sustain a regular dinner crowd. Atelier stopped serving dinner a few weeks ago, but has recently stopped serving lunch and brunch as well (they have even gone so far as to put up a wall between the food boutique and the dining room). “The bar’s doing well, but it just made sense not to do dinner anymore,” she says, adding that other restaurants in the neighbourhood are thinking about following suit. We’re investigating to find out who else is mulling a dinner-hour shutdown. Stay tuned.