Fine-dining restaurant Willow has closed its everyday restaurant operation in Ohio Township and is transitioning into a special events center, a spokesperson from S+P Restaurant Group confirmed.
The last day of service for the restaurant was Saturday.
“From weddings to parties, Willow has been the North Hills’ destination for so many special moments,” Richard Stern, co-owner of the restaurant, said in his press release. “This change allows us to focus on what our guests want most from Willow.”
Brian Pekarcik, business partner with Mr. Stern to run S+P, said he’s seen an uptick in catering in the past two years for the restaurant group, which includes Spoon in East Liberty, several locations of BRGR and the BRGR food truck. Catering for BRGR will move over to Willow with the transition.
The Willow event center will take reservations for holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day; open dates will be announced on the website and on social media.
When Willow opened on Camp Horne Road under Mr. Stern and Michael Rudman in 2004, it earned a glowing 3½-star review from Elizabeth Downer, the the Post-Gazette restaurant critic at the time. “When a new restaurant with a price tag of $1.75 million opens,” she wrote that September,”the buzz is as loud as a swarm of 17-year cicadas. Questions abound. The one I was most interested in was whether the food would live up to the expectations generated by the big bucks put into it.”
Mr. Rudman left Willow to open Luma, now closed, while Mr. Stern took over the restaurant operations.
In 2014, Willow was absorbed by the S+P Group; that same year, Mr. Stern and Mr. Pekarcik — who’s also the executive chef of Spoon — renovated the restaurant. Fast forward to 2018 and Aaron Allen was hired as executive chef, a former sous chef at Daniel, Daniel Boulud’s two-star Michelin crown jewel in New York City. He is no longer with the company.
Mr. Stern is a third-generation Pittsburgh business owner, helping to define how residents spend their leisure time and money. Before joining forces with Mr. Pekarcik, he steered nightclubs Heaven and Les Nuages in the ’90s through the early 2000s. He also oversaw the operations for several movie theaters.
This is the second pivot from the restaurant group, which, in 2017, closed what started as Grit & Grace, Downtown, and later transitioned to G&G Noodle Bar. That location, at 535 Liberty Ave., is now a BRGR, one of five burger restaurants under the company umbrella.
Willow has a variety of rental options available, notes the release, with options that include private rooms, outdoor space and the whole 300-seat restaurant. Gift cards for Willow are redeemable at BRGR and Spoon.
Melissa McCart: mccart@post-gazette.com
First Published: January 21, 2019, 6:42 p.m.
