James Beard Award-winning chef Edouardo Jordan announced he will be closing his Ravenna restaurant JuneBaby on Sunday, Dec. 31.
The announcement was made via Instagram posts where Jordan wrote, in part, the “current version of JuneBaby has led [him] astray from its original vision.” The restaurant will host its New Year’s Eve Onyx party as a farewell.
JuneBaby, which specializes in Southern cuisine, was the second of three restaurants he opened (Salare and Lucinda Grain Bar were his other endeavors). It received a lot of acclaim when it first opened in 2017, earning a James Beard “Best New Restaurant” and “Best Chef NW” award.
However in June of 2021, several staff members accused Jordan of sexual misconduct. Following the allegations, Jordan’s staffers quit en masse, leading to the immediate closure of JuneBaby and the chef’s other restaurant Salare, the latter of which was scheduled to close in July of 2021. Jordan reopened JuneBaby seven months later in January 2022.
Jordan’s latest announcements made no mention of future plans, but one of his posts hinted at other potential projects: “JuneBaby may be closing, but our commitment to excellence, love for community, and unwavering belief in the power of Black stories will continue to bloom in unexpected ways.”
JuneBaby is the last of Jordan’s restaurants still operating.
