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Kanella South's space is being offered for rent

The chef-owner said he is still trying to put together a deal to save it.

Chef owner Konstantinos Pitsillides cooking at Kanella South, 757 S Front St. in Philadelphia, on December 15, 2015.
Chef owner Konstantinos Pitsillides cooking at Kanella South, 757 S Front St. in Philadelphia, on December 15, 2015.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

The space housing Queen Village's Kanella South — which closed in January with plans to reopen after reorganization — is being marketed, but chef/owner Konstantinos Pitsillides says he is trying to put together a deal to save the business

"We just have to explore options," said building owner Fred Vidi, who affixed a banner to the facade late last week.

Pitsillides and Caroline Christian opened the restaurant, at 757 S. Front St., in fall 2015 as a fancier sibling of Kanella Grill, their long-running BYOB at 10th and Spruce Streets. Kanella Grill remains open, and Pitsillides said he was redoubling his efforts there while Front Street is closed.

"The transition from a sweet, little corner to a much larger restaurant was much more than we had anticipated," Christian said in January.

In a January interview, she said the city wanted $30,000 as part of a larger tax bill as officials affixed a cease-operations notice on the door. City officials generally do not disclose tax debts during negotiations.

Kanella South followed a bistro called Village Belle to its an early demise. Previously, Vidi himself operated Frederick's, a swish Italian supper club, on the site for two dozen years.