Sandrine’s has filed for bankruptcy with a buyer in mind to revive the French restaurant in Cambridge, Mass.’s Harvard Square.
In court papers, the restaurant, which has lost customers and expects to fall $200,000 short this year, declared that it has “slowly lost its reputation for innovation and leadership in the French cuisine.”
Manager Gwyneth B. Trost reflected on how times in the neighborhood have changed since the restaurant opened in 1996 with a chef who cooked traditional dishes with an Alsatian twist—a new thing for Boston at the time, she noted in documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston. The spot became “a mainstay among Harvardites,” she said.
“Harvard Square had changed tremendously; the area surrounding Brattle and Church Streets, along with surrounding side streets, developed into a shopping and dining destination. New restaurants, including many regional and national chains, proliferated,” Ms. Trost said. “The dynamic of exclusivity and elegance slowly gave way to mass market appeal and convenience.”
That nationwide health kick hasn’t helped either.
“Recent healthy eating and dieting trends further eroded the [restaurant’s] place in the Harvard Square cultural milieu,” she added.
As businesses in other parts of town drew tourists away from the Holyoke Street strip, the company’s debts grew to more than $1.7 million.
Using bankruptcy, proposed buyers Pierre Honneger, who owns La Voile of Boston, and an entity called Bato Catering Inc. could be able to buy the restaurant at a fraction of that amount. Their offer is worth at least $580,000, Ms. Trost said in court papers.
Until that sale is finalized, the company’s lawyer asked Judge William C. Hillman to make it clear that the restaurant can continue to pay its sommelier throughout the Chapter 11 case.
Write to Katy Stech at katy.stech@wsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KatyStech
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