Closing Rumors Surround Talde JC, The Kitchen at Grove Station, Orange and Olive

Over the past couple of years, Jersey City has seen a lot of growth and a lot of new restaurants open. With that rush of growth comes inevitable closings - not just of older spots being outpaced, but also of new restaurants that for various reasons just don't end up making it. Here's what is known and suspected to be closing around Jersey City.

Orange & Olive Caterers, 398 Central Ave
Orange & Olive opened in late 2013 in Jersey City Heights primarily as a Chef's Table in an open kitchen and community dining space but over time, they also developed a strong catering business which ended up being their focus as the Chef's Table proved unsustainable. After losing a couple of larger accounts, they recently decided to close and had their kitchen equipment up for auction

The Kitchen at Grove Station, 299 Marin Boulevard

While there has been no official declaration, there's no point in holding out hope that the Kitchen at Grove Station, a semi-upscale restaurant that focused on local and seasonal cooking, will reopen. Not long after the announcement was made about the temporary closure, staffers started mentioning that they weren't hearing back from the remaining management. Over the past few weeks, their FB, Instagram, and Twitter accounts have been deleted and an attempt to go to their website now leads to a page saying "expired".  Attempts to reach out to the owners were not returned. I also stopped by to see if I could find out anything else and while the space is still fully furnished, there were packed up dishes and Tupperware in the back and a handtruck in the main dining room, making it look as though a partial move-out was in progress.

Talde, 8 Erie Street
Rumors have been flying for months that Talde is going to close - pretty much since the time Bell +Gray closed, but until recently, no conclusive statement has been issued. Adam Robb, writer for the Village Voice and T Magazine, addressed these rumors recently on Twitter, confirming he'd spoken to a chef and other sources who had a taken a look at the space and that both Talde and Bell + Gray were up for sale, either on their own or separately. David Massoni, one of the owners, responded to my response to Adam saying we were incorrect and that Bell + Gray was on the market, not Talde.

However, I've also had reports from other sources stating they were told both sides of the space were open to the market and I've heard from two different people that an email was sent out to staff, warning employees not to talk about the rumors. While there are still active social media accounts for the space, the owners themselves have substantially cut back on promoting this location and during most weeknights, the restaurant is usually fairly empty. Additionally, since opening in Jersey City, Dale Talde and crew have spent a lot of time in Miami opening a new location there and more recently, working on another major undertaking in Chinatown, all of which suggests the future for the Jersey City location isn't looking good.

They are planning on having another Kamayan night in a couple of weeks, so if they are closing, it clearly won't be within the next month.


A quick, related note on Banyan Cafe - I had been asked about the future of cozy and casual Banyan Cafe on 110 Bright Street since it looked like the windows had been papered up, but I'm relieved to say it was just a temporary closure and they are back now and open at their regular hours.