CLEVELAND, Ohio - Just four months after opening, one of Cleveland's hottest new restaurants has closed.

On Tuesday, Arcadian Food and Drink on Detroit Avenue in the Gordon Square Arts District was shut down by owner-investor Tim Kopp.

No one is more shocked than Arcadian's owner-operator, and lauded chef, Cory Hess.

"I've worked at places I knew were going to close; there was a feeling it was going to happen. At Arcadian, we were self-sustaining and paying all of our bills, and it was never an issue."

Hess has only communicated with Kopp through lawyers this week. "My understanding is he wants to retire and sell the building now. ... But he never brought anything up about that during the three-year build-out. He was in control of everything. He signed all the checks for what started out as a $300,000 to half-million dollar bar and became a multimillion dollar build-out."

Kopp did not return a call for comment by press time.

Three years in the making, Arcadian opened at the end of June.The sleek, 4,000-square-foot space mixed midcentury modern decor with the Californian 1950s Googie style. The bar menu featured outstanding craft cocktails; the food was a stellar mix of casual but innovative eats and pizzas with an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients.

Just last week, Hess and Kopp and their accountant met to finalize a 10- to 15-year plan for Arcadian, says Hess.

"We drafted up all the terms and the 5-, 10- and 15-year plan, so it wasn't as if he was oblivious to what was going on. I can't assume four months was any kind of break-even point for anyone who spent three years on such a project.

"We discussed the terms and how it was going to be. Then on Friday we were supposed to sign the papers, and he backed out and told us he was done. Tuesday he told us to vacate the property."

Kopp did allow Hess to do the final payroll and general manager David Hridel to enter Arcadian to collect the tips left in the building.

"There is $60,000 to $100,000 worth of food going bad in there, too," says Hess.

Hess, whose wife, Rebecca Hess, was executive chef at Arcadian, says he never took a paycheck in the three years he was there for the build-out and eventual opening. "My pay was my sweat equity."

Hess is not optimistic Arcadian will reopen.

"I'm still trying to talk to lawyers and see what my options are," he says. "We were totally blindsided. It's very devastating."