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It appears celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman’s Italian restaurant Brezza Cucina is now closed at Ponce City Market, according to a report by What Now Atlanta. However, executive chef Andrew Cacioppo says to expect the Italian restaurant to reopen elsewhere in the city.
Cacioppo tells Eater Atlanta in an email they’re in the midst of finalizing the plans for the restaurant’s future location, but did not disclose where or when it would reopen. Eater reached back out for further details on the new location and the reasoning behind Brezza Cucina’s departure from Ponce City Market, but has yet to receive a response.
Brezza Cucina briefly reopened for dine-in service in late May, but closed again last week. A post on Instagram indicates Brezza Cucina had “opened back up a bit too soon.” Last week’s sudden closure came as nightly curfews continued due to protests around the city over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
Cacioppo is participating in a dinner benefiting Atlanta Solidarity Fund on June 29, alongside chefs Max Hines of The Lawrence, Zach Meloy, and Tiny Lou’s Jeb Aldrich and Claudia Martinez. The five-course dinner takes place on the rooftop of Hotel Clermont. Tickets are $120 per person with pairings, or $90 per person without pairings. 100 percent of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which provides bail funding and support to people who have been arrested during protests or other social justice causes.
Brezza Cucina opened inside the sprawling food hall in 2015 with former The Optimist chef Adam Evans at the helm. Cacioppo took over as executive chef after Evans’ departed in 2016. Evans has since gone on to open Automatic Seafood and Oysters in Birmingham, Alabama, which was just named a James Beard finalist for “Best New Restaurant.”
Restaurants at Ponce City Market began reopening for dine-in service and in-person takeout on May 22. The market and its central food hall temporarily closed to the public in mid-March due the COVID-19 pandemic, with some food stalls offering curbside takeout throughout the statewide shelter-in-place order. Curbside pickup and delivery continues for the foreseeable future at the market.
