restaurant'' on Queen Street isn't working and are changing it to the business they know best -- selling pizza.

"ChitChat was too different, too soon,'' Four Star Pizza president and general manager Marico Thomas said in an interview. "We were going away from our strength. We have decided to move to our strength.'' Mr. Thomas plans to close ChitChat for one week in June, changing it into an eat-in and take-out restaurant with an emphasis on pizza but also serving a variety of other food. The new restaurant will be called "Four Star Cafe''.

The Royal Gazette understands that Mr. Thomas and his father Fred Thomas have spent about $2.25 million on ChitChat since it opened in September. Four Star also owns four delivery and take out pizza outlets.

Marico Thomas said a large part of the money was spent on buying 3,000 square feet of space at the Bermudiana Arcade, and renovating it. ChitChat featured a variety of food kitchens where people could order and pick up their food.

Their bill was kept on a card which each customer handed in to the cashier when leaving.

Mr. Thomas said a variety of problems plagued the restaurant including a four-month delay in opening, thereby missing the peak tourist season. While customer volume was high during the first few months, interest soon tailed off, he said.

"We found we were catering to only a narrow segment of the population,'' Mr.

Thomas said. "People were enthusiastic about the restaurant, but that didn't translate into regular customers. We are now going to cater more to the casual eater. I consider it an evolution.'' The restaurant also took a lot of managing, Mr. Thomas said. He plans on spending a lot more time looking making sure Four Star Cafe works. Two managers left ChitChat in December because they didn't agree with plans to adapt the restaurant away from the original concept, he said.

"It caused some discomfort,'' he said about the dispute.

Customer polls also revealed people were concerned about the prices and the size of portions. Adjustments were made.

"It was a value issue,'' he said. "Some portions were too small, some were too large.'' He informed ChitChat's 30 staff of the planned changes this weekend. They will all have an opportunity to remain with the new restaurant, he said. The current manager has decided not stay.

"He was hired with the intent that we would move toward a finer dining restaurant,'' Mr. Thomas said. "We had a concept of a more causal place...I'm following my first mind -- to put a Four Star restaurant downtown.'' Marico Thomas BUSINESS BUC