Chelsea's Willow Road Shutters, Will Become Event Space for Successful Next Door Sibling Toro

Willow Road, the trendy two-year-old Chelsea bar/restaurant from former EMM Group GM Will Malnati and Doug Jacob, closed quietly some time last week. A tipster writes in with the news today, and while there's no mention of the closure on the restaurant's website, or any of its social media accounts, a representative confirms that Willow Road is closed for good. Malnati and Jacob are also co-owners of the neighboring Toro with chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonette, and from now on plan to use Willow Road as a private event space for the ever-popular tapas restaurant. The representative could not elaborate on the reason for Willow Road's closure. The restaurant started out with former cheftestapant Grayson Schmitz in the kitchen, but she left early this year, and it sounds like the place just hasn't been pulling in the crowds it needs.