We heard in July that Bon Marché was likely not long for this world, having been put up for sale after only a year in business at the Twitter building. Now, as Inside Scoop reports, the place has gone dark and stayed that way all week, and owner Matt Semmelhack refused to comment. So, yes looks like it's done.
For what it's worth, no announcement has been made on the restaurant's Facebook page.
Bon Marché Brasserie & Bar had been in the works for several years before its August 2015 opening, and was one of several major openings in very large, high-ceilinged spaces on the ground floor of the complex known as Market Square, but more commonly just named for its first major tenant, Twitter. It was soon joined by Dirty Water the buildout for which was said to cost $4 million and the rebirth of Cadillac Bar & Grill, a once-popular SoMa Tex-Mex spot recreated in an enormous space on 9th Street.
But this summer has been rough in terms of restaurant closings in this vicinity, with nearby Cadence shuttering after just six months, and Oro closing at Mint Plaza after just nine months. Taken together, the rapid closings of fairly ambitious projects in and around mid-Market points to an overestimation of new demand and foot traffic by downtown and SoMa tech workers and others many of whom, as many have pointed out, are fed free lunches within their own offices. But restaurateurs have also pointed to the extremely high costs of doing business and getting a restaurant open in San Francisco, which leads to a make-or-break first few months in business that most can not weather unless the crowds are immediate and steady.
In July, Semmelhack hinted that his team was open to splitting the space with a potential buyer and operating Bon Marché out of a smaller footprint, so it remains a possibility that that will still happen. He only said that he was still committed to the rebirth of the neighborhood as a whole and "we are dedicated to making sure something good happens in the space, whether it's us or a new operator."
Stay tuned.
Previously: Another Mid-Market Restaurant, Bon Marché, May Be Giving Up After Just A Year