Legendary chef Janos Wilder closes his Tucson restaurant due to covid-19

The coronavirus pandemic continues to hit Tucson especially hard. Two weeks after owner Suzana Davila closed the city’s iconic Café Poca Cosa, legendary chef Janos Wilder has permanently shut down his Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails.

Wilder, a former James Beard Award winner for Best Chef Southwest, opened Downton Kitchen & Cocktails in 2010. The restaurant is largely credited for forging Tucson’s popular downtown dining scene.

Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails had temporarily closed twice this year due to the pandemic.

The 66-year-old Wilder says he’s no longer willing to work the 70-hour weeks necessary to run a restaurant. He’s planning a series of online cooking classes called “Cooking in the Time of Covid.”