Photo by Christian Portilla
Audio By Carbonatix
Epicure Market, a Miami Beach tradition since 1945, has closed for good thanks to Hurricane Irma.
In a tweet this morning, the South Beach grocery/prepared-foods specialty store announced its days are done.
Open in 1945…Epicure Market has closed forever due to Hurricane Irma. Thank you for your patronage. We loved being a part of your lives.
— Epicure Market (@epicuremarket) September 15, 2017
The store at 1656 Alton Rd. opened as a butcher shop and then expanded with an onsite bakery, cheese department, wine cellar, and a chef who catered about a million holiday meals. Epicure expanded to Sunny Isles Beach with a full-service restaurant in 2008.
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Though the store took Best Bakery and Best Prepared Food honors in 2014 from New Times, it struggled recently, and the Sunny Isles Beach location at 17190 Collins Ave. closed. Epicure also briefly had a location on Le Jeune Road.
No one from Epicure was immediately available to discuss the closure. A message on the store’s voicemail said the market would be closed due to Hurricane Irma and to “please call Monday morning to see if the store will be open.”
When a Twitter follower asked why the store was closing, owners cited storm insurance and a sales drop.
Problems with storm insurance…declining sales.
— Epicure Market (@epicuremarket) September 15, 2017
With the Jewish High Holy Days – traditionally a busy time for the market – approaching, Epicure’s loss is certain to be felt.
