Soft openings are nothing new in Gotham – restaurants need time to get all the cylinders firing before undergoing the instant judgment of overzealous bloggers and gotta-be-there-first foodies.
(The Waverly Inn has taken the concept to its extreme by remaining in soft-opening mode for a full six months now.) The latest wrinkle, however, is the soft closing: places that shut “temporarily” for weeks on end, with their future uncertain at best. Two prime examples are Montrachet (whose phone message has stated “the restaurant will be closed for several weeks” since July 2006) and Brasserie LCB (shuttered since March 2007). Whether they’ll return is anyone’s guess, but the longer they stay closed, the less likely a comeback seems. And it’s not only restaurants that are embracing this trendlet. Two popular nightspots – Siberia and Single Room Occupancy – have also gone “temporarily” dark, with conflicting reports as to whether they’ll ever see the light of the moon again. – Curt Gathje