Bliss - the American bistro at 220 S. Broad St. since 2004 - has closed.
Veteran restaurateur Christ Dhimitri acquired Bliss in 2008 from chef Francesco Martorella and partners, including at the time Ed Snider.
Bliss, on the street level of the Bellevue, formerly was Noodle Heaven. That Chinese restaurant was owned by Jane Guo, who now has the posh Jane G's at 20th and Chestnut Streets and a future restaurant going into 3939 Chestnut St.
"This is my 43d year in the restaurant business in Philadelphia," Dhimitri said, who said new owners were coming in and planned renovations. (It will become a Korean-inspired bar-restaurant bop.)
Dhimitri has the distinction of founding a Japanese steakhouse in King of Prussia in the mid-1970s called Kobe. One of his customers was a 76ers forward named Joe Bryant, who named his son (born in 1978) after the restaurant.
From there, Dhimitri opened Kampai, a Japanese restaurant in the old NewMarket, and then Chris' Jazz Cafe on Sansom Street. He then moved to the Caribbean before returning with Bliss.
"I loved Bliss because it served as a kind of old-fashioned restaurant clubhouse for a lot of different kinds of people who didn't want or need the more aggressive power-posturing of the Palm and other steakeries," said writer Stephen Fried, a regular. "It was a great combination of some of that, but also some of the sensibility of the original Chris's Jazz House on Sansom."
In semi-related news: the Palm, upstairs, will close Feb. 29 for a long renovation.