The official word from the Tyler Florence camp regarding the closure of his flagship Rotisserie & Wine and kitchen store in Napa’s Riverfront development has been, “We just want to consolidate and focus our efforts on our other two restaurants, Wayfare Tavern and El Paseo.” But we imagine that the quiet winter months in Napa and lack of established foot traffic to that part of town had to have been factors as well. Today, the developer at the complex, Mike DiSimoni Sr., who first brought Florence in — and who says he has a couple of “pretty interesting” new tenants looking at the space — lays more of the blame on Florence himself. “He didn’t give it enough of his own time,” DiSimoni tells the Napa Valley Register regarding the restaurant’s failure. “If you are away and you have people running the place, you have to watch what they are doing.” It remains to be seen if Florence and company will try the concept elsewhere, but there is still that Tyler Florence Rotisserie at Terminal 2 at SFO. [Napa Valley Register, Earlier]
