Former 'Top Chef' Dale Talde's Restaurant Closes In Park Slope

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Talde, a popular Asian-American eatery run by former 'Top Chef' contestant Dale Talde, has officially closed its doors in Park Slope, Eater confirmed. The outpost had been open for seven years.

Some customers began to wonder if the eatery had closed when its Twitter and Instagram pages appeared to be deleted in the New Year. A staffer at the owner's second location in Jersey City confirmed to Eater that the Park Slope spot closed on New Year's.

Talde responded to customer's on Twitter about the news Friday, saying it was "just time" to close.

"We had an amazing run 7 years," he said. "We are truly blessed to have had the time."

Dale Talde had risen to fame when he appeared on the TV show "Top Chef" — first in his native Chicago's run of the show in 2008 and then in the all-star's season in 2012. He opened Talde shortly after his second run on the show in 2012, along with partners John Bush and David Massoni of Three Kings Restaurant Group.

The restaurant featured a unique mix of Asian and American cooking, with dishes like Kung Pao Chicken Wings or Pretzel Pork and Chive Dumplings.

"The idea of heritage as a restaurant concept—Italian-American, German-American—it's been used forever to describe food," Massoni told Patch around the opening of the Park Slope spot. "But Asian-American, other than the David Chang thing, hasn't really been done."

The spot seemed to do well. Zagat named Talde the second-best restaurant in New York City in 2012 and Talde himself won "The People's Best New Chef, a contest held by FoodandWine.com the year after.

But it wasn't always smooth sailing for the celebrity chef.

In 2017 Talde's partners at another restaurant he owned in Fort Greene accused him of using the sports bar to prop up his other businesses. They sued him for $3.5 million.

Customers posted their disappointment about the news on Friday, with many saying they would miss the restaurant in the neighborhood and others wishing Talde the best of luck in his other ventures.

Photo from Ben Hider / Stringer/Getty Images and GoogleMaps.