The sign says “Closed until further notice”. SOHO’s P.T. Barnum show( Philip Glassman) seems to have come to an ugly end. This entire saga has been one of SOHO’s more unusual stories over the past year. Long time restauranteur Gordon Davis had visions of expanding to St. Petersburg and the Sarasota markets, but it always takes money. Enter Ocala businessman Philp Glassman with several partners. They acquired St. Barts with visions of exclusivity and grandeur. Talk of a private club and totally custom everything seemed a little far out to us, but they continued on their plan. We expressed our reservations over a year ago. With a $5,000 yearly membership fee to nothing more than a private section with a different name - no golf course, no tennis courts, no boat slips - we never thought it would fly. It seems Ocala wasn’t the market for this concept either. Philip was a former partner in Ocala’s Club Posh 27, the club kept dealing with the “private” albatross label while trying to build a thriving business. Philip was later bought out of the partnership. That club has since closed.

Problems developed quickly at St. Barts as the club and one owner were apparently still partying at close to 5 am, Tampa Police Department noticed. Not exactly in compliance with City rules.

We met with Philip in November as he requested to be sure we had “the real details” because we just didnt seem to understand where the club was offering. After spending over an hour with Philip and a representative with Pyper Paul who was handling their marketing at the time, we were not impressed. Philip assured us that the grand opening would occur in early December - regardless of anything. We were told of expensive gift bags being planned for the invited guests - one of which would have a valuable diamond bracelet inside. Private lockers for members. Expensive fish tanks for display. Similar to the shark tank in the St. Barts Lounge. The extensive quality training of staff that was being planned. The truly custom glass ware, furniture, uniforms and more. Names of celebrities were thrown around along with relationships with other exotic clubs across the world.

The December opening did not happen. When we asked Brit Isaac (at that time with Pyper Paul) what happened ? We were told they no longer represented St. Barts and Club Prive and had no answer.

We frequently stopped by to visit with Philip and were never able to arrange a meeting.

The sharks in the tank seemed to always be asleep.

As 2007 came, it kept getting a little uglier. The Grand Opening of Chateau Prive kept being delayed. Progress in the private club section seemed to be slowing down. At least one other public relations/marketing company came and went. While most of the original kitchen staff from Gordon Davis’s St. Bart’s had stayed on board, they finally walked - apparently on the same day in a concentrated effort. Rumors of suspended liquor sales persisted.

The forever showman (just as circus great P.T. Barnum) Philip finally launched his Grand Opening of Chateau Prive in May. We were sort of invited -as in casually told to watch for our invitation, which never arrived of course. Apparently it was a grand event with animals, lots of food, and drink. Plenty of attractive people to look at and more.

Summer is never easy on restaurants and bars in Florida, and the summer took its toll. We had heard that the furniture had not been fully paid for, a new partner with deep pockets had apparently materialized - but his pockets were not deep. Several guarantees had been made in this venture, including from Philip’s father in Ocala. Last week was apparently when enough became enough. aka the shit hit the fan. Apparently the end came when lawyers finally issued the orders that it was time to close.

Will Chateau Prive reopen ? Don’t hold your breath.

Will St. Bart’s reopen ? Gordon Davis apparently has a financial interest in the property and has stepped back in to control the property already. We failed to mention that his Ceviche’s in St. Petersburg has become one of the hottest locations in all of St. Petersburg. Gordon is a restaurant professsional, knows the building and the neighborhood, and if he decides, could have things back on track right away. Gordon told us he is in control of the property again. He indicated he has not yet decided what to do with it yet, but continuing as St. Bart’s did not seem a likely option.

Will Philip / Chateau Prive be back ? We seriously doubt it. The entire idea of a private club was a bad one at the start. The sharks slept through it and even P.T. Barnum couldn’t make it happen at this time. We also understand that the legal issues are only starting to rise from this disaster. Watch for more to come.

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