[EXCLUSIVE] Celebrity Chef Shutters Second Atlanta Eatery

Baffi, the upscale Italian restaurant that Celebrity Chef Jonathan Waxman opened in West Midtown in early 2021, has closed. The restaurant, which took over the space previously occupied by Indigo Road's Donetto, was meant to serve as the replacement for Waxman's other Atlanta area restaurant, Brezza Cucina, which closed in Ponce City Market (PCM) in June 2020 after nearly five years in business. (Atrium from locally owned Oliva Restaurant Group now occupies the PCM space.)

There was no formal announcement regarding the Baffi closure, but the restaurant has been marked "permanently closed" on Google and an employee at one of Waxman's other New York area restaurants confirmed the closure is permanent. Waxman, a California native, still operates two restaurants in New York: Barbuto, an Italian restaurant in the West Village and Jams, an American restaurant in the 1 Hotel Central Park. The chef is also a partner in Adele's, a restaurant with locations in Nashville's Gulch neighborhood and more recently in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward.

Baffi occupied a roughly 4,300 square foot space at 976 Brady Avenue, also home to The Painted Duck and Nick's Westside. The latter, a casual neighborhood restaurant from Chef Nick Leahy, opened in October 2020 in place of Provencal-inspired restaurant Aix and its adjacent wine bar Tin Tin, which Leahy had opened in October 2018.

The Baffi space appears as if it could reopen as something new almost immediately with the restaurant earlier this week still full of furniture, fixtures, equipment... and booze. That said, it's unclear if the space is actively being marketed for lease or if any replacement tenant is imminent.

Did you ever dine at Baffi? Are you surprised to see Baffi close? What would you like to see open in the Baffi space?

Please share your thoughts below.