Cobble Hill Darling Battersby to Shutter by Year’s End

New American tasting menu restaurant Battersby will close on December 31 after close to seven years in Cobble Hill.

Chef-owners Walker Stern and Joe Ogrodnek point to an expiring lease and slowing business as the catalysts for the decision — which has made the once-white-hot restaurant “just not viable anymore,” an employee said in an email. A final service on New Year’s Eve will usher the restaurant out in a celebratory way. Stern has no plans right now, while Ogrodnek earlier this year announced plans to lead the ground-floor restaurant at upcoming Lower East Side hotel Sister City.

Battersby opened in Cobble Hill in 2011, landing on Bon Appetit’s 10 best new restaurants in America list within its first year. That success propelled the restaurant into a hot destination, spurring an expansion and cookbook — and a second, but now-closed restaurant, Dover, from the team. The food at Battersby ranged from dishes such as whole wheat strozzapretti with squash, brussels sprouts, and brown butter to bomba rice with duck confit, octopus, chorizo, and piquillos, changing frequently on the five-course, now-$75 tasting menu.

Year’s end is a common time for restaurants to make their exits. Sceney Tao spot Stanton Social and West Village neighborhood restaurant Dell’anima will also shutter this month.

• All Coverage of Battersby [ENY]