Restaurateur to the stars Nello Balan says he handed over control of his eponymous eatery after a “marriage that didn’t work” with his partner Thomas Makkos.
After 25 years of providing pricey portions to business moguls, models, Upper East Side socialites, Russian oligarchs and stars, including Mickey Rourke and Arnold Schwarzenegger, at his people-watching mecca of a restaurant on Madison Avenue, Balan says he is stepping aside to focus on another project.
He told us, “Some partnerships don’t work out, nobody forced me to leave Nello, it was like a marriage that didn’t work, and I made the decision to get out. I still own 50 percent of Nello but I am not involved in the daily running of it, I am concentrating on my new project. I am quite busy and happy.”
Makkos, a hospitality bigwig whose family organization owns properties including Battery Gardens, refused to comment to Page Six.
Along with billionaire Oswaldo Karam, Balan has taken over 14 E. 58th St., four blocks from Nello.
The space previously was Max Burgio’s B & Co, which they are converting into two restaurants and a private club.
Balan said, “It will be something new, something different and hot. I want it to be like [hot, exclusive, members club] Loulou’s in London. It won’t compete with Nello, which has a unique character, and I hope the partners will continue that tradition forever. I will always be there to keep it going strong.”
The four-story 58th Street property, which is currently undergoing a full renovation, will house two restaurants, each seating up to 110, plus the private club that could accommodate up to 250.
Balan said, “I hope it will open before next year. The restaurants will be for everybody, but the club will be exclusive, a combination of memberships and guests who are my good friends.”
When asked if it might be as famously expensive as Nello, which offers pasta plates costing up to $200, he shrugged, “Possibly more expensive.”