Wylie Dufresne Plans to Shutter Alder at the End of the Summer

Sweet, sweet Alder, say it ain't so. After two and a half years of business on Second Avenue, Wylie Dufresne and his team have decided to close their casual, unusual, frequently excellent restaurant Alder at the end of August. Dufresne breaks the news on Twitter:

Sad to report that after 2.5 great years on 2nd Ave, we’ve decided to close Alder at the end of August. The search for a new home begins...

— Wylie Dufresne (@wyliedufresne) July 31, 2015

No word yet on the exact reasons for the closure, but it sounds like a rent hike might have something to do with it. Eater has reached out to the team for more information.

Alder opened in April 2013 to a lot of buzz. This was, after all, Wylie's first new restaurant since the opening of wd~50 almost a decade prior. The reviews were generally great, and the bar developed a following of its own. The restaurant went through a staff shuffle last fall when opening executive chef Jon Bignelli left, and Alder switched to a prix fixe only format in the dining room in April. At the very least, Alder was a place where wd~50 fans could go to enjoy Dufresne's food after the Clinton Street restaurant closed.  But Alder very much had its own identity apart from that other legendary establishment.  The French onion soup rings, clam chowder, and pastrami pasta were all slam dunk dishes.

Back in June, Dufresne announced plans to open a new restaurant in the the AKA Wall Street in 2016. Stay tuned for more details on the closure of Alder and Dufresne's future plans as they become available.

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