CINCINNATI — A popular brunch spot in Over-the-Rhine will close its doors for good next week as chef Jose Salazar turns his attention to two new restaurants.
Goose and Elder, located in Findlay Market, will serve patrons for the last time on June 15.
One of Findlay Market's pioneers in developer Model Group's efforts to revitalize northern OTR, Goose and Elder has been a Cincinnati staple since it opened in 2019.
"The success of the broader Findlay Market district wouldn't be where it is today without Goose and Elder," said Matt Reckman, president of property management at Model Group, in a press release. "We appreciate our partnership with Ann and Jose and look forward to the continued success of their brand in downtown Cincinnati."
The closure is happening so Jose and Ann Salazar can focus on his overall restaurant brand, according to a press release.
"We thank the entire Model Group family for being such wonderful partners and giving us the opportunity to be a part of Findlay Market," Ann and Jose wrote in a statement included in the press release. "These past five years working with Model Group have further deepened our respect and appreciation for what they mean to this neighborhood and the city at large."
The original location of Salazar, at 14th Street and Republic, now houses another restaurant created by the chef called Safi. A Moroccan-inspired wine bar, Safi opened for the first time on May 31, days before Goose and Elder's closing date was announced and just over six months after Salazar itself closed.
In addition, Salazar said he and his team need the opportunity to focus their attention to another new restaurant, to be developed within the former Saks Fifth Avenue building. At the end of May, Paycor announced it would vacate its Norwood headquarters and relocate to the building, which 3CDC purchased from the city of Cincinnati for $1.
The new, yet unnamed, restaurant in the Saks building will be Jose Salazar's sixth restaurant in the Greater Cincinnati region, including the set-to-close Goose and Elder and the original Salazar. When he closed Salazar, which had been in the space Safi now occupies for 10 years, the chef said his team was searching for a larger, more efficient space for "Salazar 1.0" but that location has not been formally announced.
The chef still owns Mita's in downtown Cincinnati, Daylily in Columbia-Tusculum and the newly-opened Safi.
At the time of that announcement, officials said 13,000 square feet within the former Saks building was being set aside for restaurant space, though Salazar's ties to that space were not announced at the time.
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