Volver Is Shutting Down For A Very Long Summer Vacation

Volver is done for the summer. Not for a week (as is becoming almost standard among many of the more notable Philly restaurants), or for two weeks (which is the point at which we grow nervous about them ever opening back up again), but for a full two months.

The final night of service was June 30, at which point the whole place (Bar Volver included) went quietly dark. This is the message left on their Open Table page:

This summer Volver will be taking a “Summer Holiday”, below are the details:

· July 1, 2015, Volver begins summer holiday, with both the dining room and Bar Volver closing.
· August 12, 2015, Bar Volver reopens, offering their full food and beverage menu, including the recently upgraded and diversified menu of elevated bar specialties.
· September 2, 2015, the dining room at Volver reopens, offering a new, seasonal 8-course tasting menu for $95 and 12-course tasting menu for $150.

During the break, we will be providing a behind the scenes look at the development of the new fall menu. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact the restaurant at 215-670-2303 or by email volver.info@garcesgroup.com.

We thank you again for your support and can’t wait to see you later this summer and in the fall!

Best,

Chef Jose Garces and the Volver Team

So I’ve got a couple questions here. The first (and most important) being, is the place actually going to re-open again as promised on September 2?

The official word from the Garces team? “Of course.” They went on to explain that this closure has really been planned all along. “The decision was made to align with the Kimmel’s season. It didn’t turn out that way in year one, last year, because the opening was delayed and it was almost May by the time we opened. The staff is lean, works incredibly hard, and needs a break at some point. It just made sense to do it smack in the middle of the summer when the city and [Center City] are really quiet.”

Which, okay, sure. I guess when you’ve got a restaurant existing as a sort of adjunct to a space like a theater, you can get away with something like just closing everything down for a couple months. But what happens to the staff during this time?

Again, the Garces people have an answer.

“The staff members are all taking vacations and then returning to work either at Volver or another Garces restaurant. They are all expected to return.”

Plus, there’ll be all that menu development to attend to. And with two full months to work on it (less time for the new menu at Bar Volver, I guess, what with its paltry six weeks of downtime), here’s hoping it’s something phenomenal.

Now we just have to wait until September to see what they come up with.

All Volver coverage [f8b8z]