Well here’s a blow to the city’s already small community of soba restaurants: Eater brings word that Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s upscale Tribeca noodle outpost, Matsugen, will close after service this Saturday. When he opened the restaurant in 2008, Vongerichten was betting that “all New Yorkers will love soba,” but we’re not sure that’s been the case. While the ramen craze rages on, even well-respected soba restaurants like Matsugen and Honmura An, which shuttered in 2007, can’t seem to keep their doors open. Could it be in this age of Ippudo and Momofuku that soba’s delicate flavors are too subtle for some New Yorkers’ salt-addled palates? If you say no to that, there’s still Sobakoh, Soba Totto, Soba-Ya, and our newcomer favorite, Cocoron.
Jean-Georges’ Tribeca Soba Shop Matsugen to Close [Eater NY]
Update: Fork in the Road spoke to a spokeswoman for Vongerichten, who said the reason for the restaurant’s closing was a combination of the contract ending for the Matsushita brothers, who managed the kitchen, and visa issues for other chefs: “It was just going to be too complicated to keep it open.”
