A closed St George’s restaurant is to be reborn with a new name.

The Tavern by the Sea, which closed last Thursday, is to reopen with new management and a new name — The Wharf.

The building, at Somers Wharf off Water Street, is owned by Meyer Properties, which will team up with Milos Damjanovic, who ran the restaurant for nearly a decade.

A spokeswoman for the firm said the 10 to 12 staff affected by the closure could find jobs at the new-look restaurant.

She added: “Everybody has the opportunity to apply and hopefully we would look to take on as many as possible.”

The spokeswoman said: “Along with its ongoing investment in St George’s, the Meyer Group will be injecting funds into the Somers Wharf restaurant to provide a full renovation.

“In conjunction with restaurateur Milos Damjanovic, the popular eatery will reopen as The Wharf in mid-May.”

Mr Damjanovic ran the Tavern by the Sea in its heyday between 2003 and 2011 and will return as manager and partner with Meyer in the new venture.

He left the restaurant in 2011 to take over as general manager at the Wyndham-Reef resort in Grand Cayman, a 160-room hotel with two restaurants, bars, a lounge, conference rooms and a staff of 150.

But Mr Damjanovic said: “Bermuda, and more specifically St George’s, has always felt like home. I have great friends here and loved the restaurant.

“When I had the opportunity to invest and return as part owner/operator, the choice was easy.

“I am confident The Wharf will be a great success.”

He added: “There is a lot of negativity from some corners about Bermuda, but I am very bullish on the island and the future successes to come.

“From where I sit, things look positive in St George’s — when The Wharf opens, I encourage everyone to come by and judge for themselves.”

Herman Basden, 74, who has owned Tavern by the Sea for the last 15 years, said the ending of the lease, his own age and the recession had all played a part in his decision to shut up shop.

Mr Basden, the former director of the Public Transportation Board, added: “There’s been quite a recession in St George’s and I’m now in my mid-70s and it’s a bit much for me at nights.

“The lease has expired and, putting it all together, it seems to be rational.”

Mr Basden said: “Now, more than ever, I wish I was a younger man, but I don’t have any mixed feelings. I think, in my particular case, the time had come.”

He added: “I have met many wonderful people from the cruise ships and overseas and that’s what I will miss.”

Mr Basden said: “We don’t have another hotel, we don’t have enough cruise ships — after a while, working on the margins so long, you say ‘OK’.”

Mr Basden said he had made it a priority to help the staff find new jobs.

He added: “All of them are trying to find another job and I’m hanging with them as much as I can and in the very near future I’ll know how many are successful. That’s going to be an ongoing thing.”

Mr Basden, who retired from the PTB in 2000, in 2002 took over a deep-in-debt business that was facing eviction after one of the partners abandoned it.

But within three years, he had pulled it back from the brink, paid off the bulk of the debt, improved the premises and boosted business.