Tel Aviv restaurant O closes after six months

Restaurant O in Tel Aviv is shutting down only about six months after it opened. The restaurant operated at 45 Rothschild Boulevard, in the former flagship location of Max Brenner, and had launched in December as a joint project between chef Tomer Agay and the Avidan brothers group.

The closure was announced on the restaurant’s Instagram account. In the post, the team said it had come in with “a culinary vision that was high-quality and interesting” and believed it could become “the next place in the city,” but that the realities of opening a new business during war, uncertainty and sirens created operational and financial difficulties that a newly founded business could not absorb. “Therefore, out of responsibility, we made the decision to close,” the post said.

Agay left the restaurant about a month and a half before the closure. In early May, he and the Avidan group described the split as friendly, and said the partnership had been intended only for development and launch support, even though he had been presented at the opening as a full partner. O had been billed as Agay’s return to a major stage about a year after Santa Katarina closed.

After the shutdown, the Avidan group said it already plans to open a new venue in Kiryat Ono, which has recently become a sought-after destination for restaurateurs. Agay responded that he had “really done everything right” and regretted that the restaurant “did not get a real chance,” adding that it “could have brought joy to so many people.”