Catezza Italian Kitchen and Bar has been closed in recent days with management mum on what’s happening with place. (Photo by Brian Donohue (Click to enlarge)
By Brian Donohue
One Italian restaurant goes dark just short of its two-year anniversary in a landmark Broad Street location. Meanwhile, another Italian restaurant plans to open right around the corner where the Front Street Trattoria long operated. 
It’s a classic red-sauce edition of Retail Churn, with eateries churning like nonna’s gravy on a Sunday afternoon.
And we’ve also got news of a big Asian fusion place getting set to open, a bustling new coffee spot and the happy news that empanadas have finally landed in Red Bank.
Keep reading for the mouth-watering and somewhat mysterious details.
The interior of Catezza days before it opened in 2024. (Photo by Brian Donohue)
In August, 2024, John and Anthony DiLeo’s Esperto Hospitality Group opened Catezza Italian Kitchen and Bar in the visually stunning space at 19 Broad Street where they had operated the seafood spot Catch 19. A press release touted the move as one that would “redefine New Jersey’s culinary landscape.”
And perhaps they did – if that new definition is “open, close, open, maybe close, maybe not, tell ya later.”
Here’s what we know – and don’t.
Catezza closed down in March for several weeks for “maintenance” and re-opened again in late April with a “re-imagined” menu, according to the restaurant’s Instagram page.
In recent days, the building has gone dark again with no signs of activity. Esperto’s Il Nido restaurant in Marlboro, purchased around the same time Catezza opened, has also closed, according to Yelp reviewers (The eatery’s website has been shut down.)
An online real estate listing shows the Catezza building at 19 Broad Street, along with adjacent 17 Broad Street, where the owners opened a second spot, Cafe Pari, are both now on the market as a package for $7.7 million, according an online real estate listing. (It’s hard to tell what’s up with Cafe Pari – the website lists hours that has it closed six out of seven days a week and there’s no signs of life there, either).
An attempt to make a reservation so we could get a Negroni and chicken parm at Catezza was unsuccessful – there are no slots available for any dates at all on the online reservation system. After two days of emails asking management if they were closed for good, Churn received an email that only made things more confusing.
Chief Marketing Officer Ryan Murrin wrote: “At the moment, we’re not in a position to share any details, but we’ll be sure to reach back out when we have an update we’re ready to announce. Thanks again for thinking of us. Stay tuned.”
Esperto Hospitality Group also last year shut down its pan-Latin eatery Centrada at 8 West Front Street and sold the building, which had previously housed the Downtown.
It was purchased in December by Saurabh Abrol, CEO and founder of Le Malt Hospitality Group which runs Meximodo restaurants in Metuchen and Jersey City. Work is progressing toward a planned August opening of Sho Asian Table, Abrol’s newest venture. The signs are up and they had a hiring event recently, so it looks close.
The restaurant will feature traditional cuisines from Southeast Asia, including Chinese, Japanese and Thai dishes.
“I have hired one of the best Asian chefs to be the culinary director,” Abrol told the Asbury Park Press, referring to Sean Yan, who is also the chef and owner of the Ram and Rooster in Metuchen.
And speaking of West Front Street..
• A BYOB Italian restaurant is planning to open in the former Front Street Trattoria/Saffron building at 31-33 West Front Street, according to a permit application filed with the Borough.
- Aura Coffee Roasters is up and running at 60 Broad Street. The place was totally hopping when we stopped in around noon Wednesday. Besides kawfee, the menu offers a range of breakfast and lunch sandwiches. And so, with another small business coffee shop downtown, the mystery deepens even further as to why anyone would ever set foot in Starbucks.
La Taguera owner Diana Padilla inside the new Venezuelan eatery at 166 Monmouth Street. (Photo by Brian Donohue) - La Taguera, the first brick and mortar location started by owners of the Sweetpepper Venezualan food trucks, is up and running at 166 Monmouth Street serving empanadas, arepas and other Venezuelan scrumptiousness.
- The beef empanada we had was delicious, washed down with Venezuelan Frescolita soda. They also have a small grab and go section that included MANGO COLE SLAW! Our summer cookouts may never be the same.
