Enoteca Ursino, the 6-month-old incarnation of the much-heralded Ursino at Kean University, has closed, and while a Kean spokeswoman would not comment on the sudden shuttering, she said more details will be revealed shortly.
Terra Momo, the restaurant group that operates the critically-acclaimed Eno Terra in Kingston among others, won an agreement with Kean last year to run the farm-to-table restaurant that sources much of its produce from the university’s Liberty Hall Farm. A Terra Momo spokesman would not comment on the closing other than to say it was no longer associated with the restaurant.
The original Ursino, under the management of Gourmet Dining, opened in a high-style space within the university’s STEM Building on Morris Avenue in 2011 and won raves from critics. When it closed in September 2015, the university said it was only temporary for remodeling, but announced in May 2016 that it had reached a deal with Terra Momo to reopen as the slightly more casual Enoteca Ursino.
It once again earned raves, with one of the pricier items, a $29 Wagyu sirloin with herbed marrow butter deemed “luscious” by The Star-Ledger’s Cody Kendall.
Ursino, when it had been under the management of Gourmet Dining, was the subject of a property tax dispute with Union Township, which has yet to be resolved. Though the university is exempt from taxes, the town argued that the private company running the restaurant with no educational intent is not.
“You look at the prices, you know how many students can afford to eat there,” said town administrator Ronald Manzella in an interview Thursday.
The New Jersey Tax Court has not yet ruled on the $50,000 tax bill the town says they are owed.
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