But neither Utah restaurateur Gene Kwon, who is buying Cafe Pierpont and Baci Trattoria, nor Gastronomy are confirming rumors the two restaurants will be closed to make way for Utah's first Ruth's Chris Steak House.

Ruth's Chris spokeswoman Lanette Jarvis would not divulge the steakhouse chain's first Utah location - set to open by summer - but said it will be a franchise owned by Kwon, who has been looking for a suitable downtown Salt Lake City location for the popular steakhouse.

"For years, people would ask us, 'Why aren't you in Salt Lake City?' " said Jarvis. "We're excited about the idea about having a location there."

None of Gastronomy's principals - John Williams, Tom Guinney or Tom Sieg - returned calls seeking comment about the deal, which has yet to close. Calls instead were referred to Gastronomy spokesman John Becker, who said the three men were not yet interested in talking about the sale.

But Becker did confirm that Kwon is not only buying both restaurant businesses - Baci Trattoria, 134 West Pierpont Ave., and Cafe Pierpont, 122 West Pierpont Ave. - but also the building in which they are located. The building has office space above the restaurants.

Gastronomy, which debuted 28 years ago with The New Yorker, opened Cafe Pierpont, which serves Mexican food, in 1986, and Baci, which serves Italian food, in 1989.

In Gastronomy's early years, it had little competition. But in recent years the company has faced increased competition from a number of new eating establishments such as Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and Z'Tejas, a Southwestern-style eatery, both in The Gateway project in downtown Salt Lake City, which has added many new restaurants since opening in 2001.

Gastronomy, which made a major investment in remodeling its oldest restaurants in recent years, will continue to operate The New Yorker, Market Street Broiler, two Market Street Oyster Bars and two Market Street Grills in the Salt Lake City area, Becker said.

Williams, Guinney and Sieg "are going to focus their attention on growth of the Market Street Grill and Oyster Bar concept" and seafood, Becker said.

Latitude Restaurant Group, owned by Kwon, operates a number of restaurants in the Salt Lake City and Park City areas, including Mikado Downtown, Mikado Cottonwood, Kampai Park City, Harry's at the E-Center, Harry's Sugar House, Hapa Grill Park City and Ichiban Salt Lake.

Kwon did not return calls seeking comment.

"Gene is not going to talk about this until the deal is done," said Latitude spokesman Paul Gadd.

lesley@sltrib.com