Restaurant notes
Restaurant Jasper closes; free iced coffee; Jean-Marie Lacroix gets a job.
Call it case of bad, bad timing plus bad, bad luck. That's the story behind the recent closing of Jasper in Downingtown. In May 2008, literally the day before the web-posting of a rock-solid two-bell from The Inquirer's Craig LaBan, chef-owner Nick DiFonzo was stricken with a brain aneurysm. DiFonzo closed for two months. But by then, "business never came back," he told me. "Then the economy went south." Fully recovered physically, he has decided to step out of the kitchen and watch his sons, ages 9 and 10, grow up. "Someday, I'll be back," he said.
On a happier note: Tuesday, May 11, is Free Iced Coffee Day at the Philly region's Dunkin' Donuts; 16-ounce smalls for everyone.
Max & Me Catering has taken on consulting chef Jean-Marie Lacroix as chef-partner. Lacroix, who wore the toque at the Four Seasons followed by the Rittenhouse Hotel before "retiring," has worked for Max & Me' owners Barry Gutin and Larry Cohen for two years.