JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The last of Chef Kenny Gilbert's local restaurants will shutter, as he announced Monday the Silkie's Chicken & Champagne Bar is closing effective immediately.
Gilbert, who is known for having cooked for Oprah, has had several businesses on the First Coast that eventually closed, with Silkie's being the latest casualty.
The Springfield restaurant opened Nov. 3, 2020. In April 2022, Gilbert told First Coast News he was struggling to keep up with inflation. He said he was cutting items from the menu and raising prices due to rising costs of staples like chicken breasts.
In his Facebook post announcing the closure of Silkie's, Gilbert cited inflation, "reduced guest traffic," turnover and "personal issues."
His full post reads:
"Good evening. It’s with deep sorry that we announce the closing of Silkies Chicken and Champagne Bar, effective 6/3/24.
Opening during COVID was a challenging time, but due to your support we excelled.
The last 9 months have been challenging, to say the least. Reduced guest traffic, inflation and employee turnover played a key part in this closure as well as some other personal issues. Nonetheless, we took pride in serving our community and appreciated every single guest that set foot through the doors. I want to Thank all of my staff, past and present for creating memorable moments for our community. We worked extremely hard to serve you and we thank you for the opportunity."
Gilbert has not posted about any future endeavors, although his website says he has a restaurant open in Miami.
Gilbert's Underground Kitchen in Fernandina Beach opened in 2015 and closed in December of 2019. His other restaurant, Gilbert's Social on the Southside of Jacksonville, closed in October of 2019.