Is La Grenouille’s goose nearly cooked? Depends on which owner you ask.
The legendary fine-dining spot is in danger of shuttering due to an “imminent” foreclosure of its East 52nd Street townhouse, claims Charles Masson, who inherited the restaurant and building along with brother Philippe and has for years been trying to oust his sibling from the business.
Charles has accused Philippe of using the eatery as a personal piggy bank, and says the brother should be immediately booted as executor of their mother Gisele’s estate after the younger Masson defaulted on a $1 million loan on the property, according to court records.
Philippe “abandoned” La Grenouille during the pandemic and fled to Florida, Charles alleged in Manhattan Surrogate Court papers filed earlier this year.
Not so, counters Philippe, who says Charles’ claims are as puffed up as a piece of pastry.
The Midtown East eatery has been open for months and only closed during the pandemic when regulations required, Philippe said in court filings last month.
The foreclosure proceedings are “at a standstill,” charges Philippe in court papers, who says La Grenouille is not in danger.
Philippe, who has accused Charles of being a racist and a bad manager who La Grenouille employees hated, says he only took out the mortgage to pay taxes Charles was supposed to pay, and lawyer bills caused by his brother’s attacks.
Charles wants to sell the restaurant and the townhouse so he can get cash, said Philippe, who called his brother’s latest gripes a “bad faith salvo” in a “never-ending war” against him.
“However La Grenouille is a New York institution, the last of its kind. The court should not enter an order essentially compelling its immediate sale and closure,” Philippe pleaded in court records.
The famed eatery was launched in 1962 by Charles and Philippe’s mother, Gisele, enticing celebs from Laurence Olivier, Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor to Frank Sinatra, Madonna and Yves Saint Laurent. Gisele Masson died in 2014.
