Asha Gomez’s Spice to Table Is Closing This Month

Chef and cookbook author Asha Gomez’s Indian patisserie will go dark in a few weeks. Spice to Table’s last day of service is scheduled for Friday, February 24, reports Atlanta Magazine. Going forward, Gomez will operate a new “lifestyle brand” called DYAD Tea & Spice.

“Tea seemed like a natural foundation for the kind of products we wanted to develop,” Gomez said in a video announcing the new venture. “I’ll be working with chefs to launch a complete tea experience that will be offered in restaurants and, ultimately, in your homes.”

Gomez opened Spice to Table in Old Fourth Ward’s Studioplex development in August 2014, a few days after she closed her upscale Westside dining room Cardamom Hill. The casual, counter-service restaurant drew critical acclaim, and GQ critic Alan Richman named it to his list of America’s best new restaurants in 2015.

Gomez reportedly has no firm plans to return to the restaurant business, but because she still operates The Third Space, an event venue in Studioplex, diners can expect pop-up meals from the chef.

“Rents are escalating insanely in the neighborhood that I’m in, and it really doesn’t make financial sense to keep [Spice to Table] open,” Gomez told Atlanta. “If you’re lucky and you’re doing really, really well, you’re making an 11 percent profit margin. On the other hand, at my private event space, the Third Space, I have a 70 percent profit margin.”

• Asha Gomez Is Closing Spice to Table to Focus on Tea [Atlanta]
• Lusca, Spice to Table Among Alan Richman's 25 Outstanding Restaurants for 2015 [EATL]
• All Spice to Table Coverage [EATL]