Forsythia is temporarily closed as bank seeks $925,000 from chef Christopher Kearse
Univest Bank & Trust Co. filed two confessions of judgment on Oct. 21, saying Kearse and his companies defaulted on three separate loans.
Chef Christopher Kearse’s Michelin-recommended Old City restaurant Forsythia closed abruptly this weekend, days after a creditor took legal action to collect nearly $925,000 it says Kearse owes.
Souderton-based Univest Bank & Trust Co. filed two requests for court judgments in Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court Wednesday against Kearse and his companies, CWKearse LLC and FrenchAF LLC, seeking repayment for three Small Business Association loans totaling more than $815,000. Univest is seeking the amount of each principal, plus interest, late fees, and attorney commissions.
The LLCs respectively operate Forsythia and Kearse’s Washington Square West cocktail bar, Known Associates, which has been closed since September.
In text messages, Kearse said both businesses’ closures are temporary. He also said he is current on payments for all three loans. Univest’s lawyer did not respond to request for comment.
The filings against Kearse are called confessions of judgment, a controversial lending practice banned in many states, but not Pennsylvania. Borrowers waive their right to due process, allowing banks to obtain judgments without hearings if debtors don’t repay their loans. The practice lets lenders expedite collecting collateral by garnishing income or placing liens on a borrower’s business.
In one filing, Univest said FrenchAF LLC took out a $500,000 SBA loan in May, which CWKearse LCC and Kearse personally guaranteed. Kearse and his companies then failed to make any required payments before and after receiving a demand letter dated Oct. 5, the filing said.
According to the other filing, also from Univest, CWKearse LLC took out a $550,000 SBA loan in June 2019, just before Forsythia opened at 233 Chestnut St. The company deferred on payments three times between March 2020 and March 2022 before entering into a loan modification agreement in May 2024, the filing said. The current outstanding principal is over $184,000, according to the filing.
The filing also includes a second SBA loan, for $150,000, which CWKearse LLC took out in May 2024. Its outstanding principal is over $131,000, according to the filing.
“We all caught up and refinanced,” Kearse said regarding the $550,000 and $150,000 loans.
The filings were made two days before Kearse was scheduled to appear in court on criminal assault charges brought against him by a former manager at Forsythia. That court date was rescheduled for Nov. 12.
“We are closed,” read a sign posted on Forsythia’s door Saturday and Sunday. The restaurant’s Resy page does not list any reservation options for the remainder of the year.
Kearse said that the sign was meant to indicate that Forsythia was closed for the weekend, not permanently. After buyouts Tuesday and Wednesday, the restaurant will open as normal, he said.
Kearse said Known Associates at 941 Spruce St., which opened in June, will reopen Thursday with a new menu. He previously told the Inquirer that Known Associates was closed due to a variety of staffing woes, payroll disputes, and over $30,000 in stolen checks.
In an undated document addressed to Univest that Kearse provided to The Inquirer, Kearse described a series of fraud allegations from July — including $64,200 in stolen and altered checks — that led to late payments and restricted bank account access.
A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department confirmed that Kearse filed a police report July 16 saying he discovered a missing checkbook from his business office, and that an $8,000 check had been cashed without his permission.
At the time, the police spokesperson said, Kearse couldn’t identify who may have written the check. The investigation remains ongoing.
As of Sunday, Kearse said the money from the stolen checks had been reimbursed “for the most part” by his bank.
