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By Hadas Kuznits
Filed Under:Bookbinders, Garces Group, Hadas Kuznits, Jose Garces, Kitchen, Old City, restaurant
(Chef José Garces in his new Amada restaurant, at the Revel resort in Atlantic City. Credit: Hadas Kuznits)

By Hadas Kuznuts

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)–Philadelphia’s iconic Bookbinder’s restaurant will soon be reopened by chef Jose Garces.

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Bookbinder’s is expected to be re-opened in Spring 2014, but a spokesperson for the Garces Group confirms it will be renamed.

Also, it will not be a restaurant as it once was, rather the historic building in Old City will be used by the Garces Group as a commissary kitchen for the catering division of chef Garces’s company.

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In a written statement, a company spokesperson writes they will use the space as a unique special events venue with an oyster saloon that will operate on a limited basis.

The Old Original Bookbinders, which closed in 2009, was known for its celebrity clientele.

Having opened in the late 1800’s, it was known as the oldest seafood restaurant in Philadelphia.

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