Del Posto, the Lauded Italian Restaurant, Will Permanently Close

Its executive chef, Melissa J. Rodriguez, has purchased the restaurant with a group of investors, with plans to open a similarly ambitious Italian restaurant.

Del Posto, the elegant Italian restaurant in Manhattan that received a rare four-star review from The New York Times in 2010, will permanently close following its sale, said Jeff Katz, the restaurant’s longtime general manager. It has been purchased by Mr. Katz along with Melissa J. Rodriguez, Del Posto’s executive chef, and the chef James Kent, a former chef de cuisine at Eleven Madison Park, from Lidia Bastianich, Joe Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. The sale includes the lease of Del Posto’s large space in Chelsea, which the new owners plan to use for three new businesses, following a renovation. There will be a cocktail bar, a casual restaurant with wood-burning pizza ovens and an ambitious, special-occasion Italian restaurant in the spirit of Del Posto, which was first opened in 2005 by Ms. Bastianich, Mr. Bastianich and the chef Mario Batali.