Perhaps this was just a round hole.
Chef Matt Levin and the management at Washington Square West's Square Peg sat down and agreed on a reassignment within GuestCounts Hospitality, which also owns Brûlée Catering and Cuba Libre.
Levin - whose previous stops have veered between the hoity-toity (Lacroix at the Rittenhouse) and the downscale (his former ill-starred stop, Adsum) - had been working on the upscale end with Brûlée when he left to open Square Peg, a glorified diner, at 10th and Walnut Streets. It opened in March and drew mainly tepid reviews.
By Twitter, Levin announced this morning: "It wasn't fun cooking the same food anymore." (By phone, well, he was not responding.)
GuestCounts co-owner Barry Gutin told me: "It wasn't playing to his strengths. He wants a challenge."
Meanwhile, Levin will be reunited with Jean-Marie Lacroix. Gutin and business partner Larry Cohen will shift a chef from their stable to right the ship and tweak the menu. The concept, Gutin said, was solid.