Campania Restaurant Closes Three Months After Chef's Suicide
Philip Neuman—who purchased the Italian restaurant eight days before chef Joe Cerniglia's suicide in September—plans to reopen the venue under a new name early next year, the Record reported.
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Campania Restaurant has closed on Broadway three months after its renowned chef committed suicide.
Jessica, a waitress at the venue, said "Thank you for calling what used to be known as Campania" when she answered the phone on Wednesday morning. She then confirmed with Patch that the restaurant has shut down.
On Sept. 16, eight days before chef Joe Cerniglia jumped from the George Washington Bridge, Cerniglia and his business partners sold CWB1—the company that operated Campania—to Campania Holding Corp. for $288,000.
The Record reported on Tuesday that according to Campania chef Everald Gayle, the managing director of Campania Holding Corp.—Philip Neuman—intends to reopen the restaurant under a new name early next year. When asked by Patch to confirm that information, Jessica, the Campania waitress, said "that's what I'm told."
"There might be a liquor license too," Jessica said, explaining that Campania was previously a BYOB restaurant.
Both Gayle and Neuman could not immediately be reached for comment by Patch. Gayle told the Record that Neuman did not give Campania employees a reason for why the restaurant was closed, other than that he plans to renovate the facility.
Cerniglia–named one of the state's top five chefs by Inside Jersey magazine this past January–was found floating dead in the Hudson River on Sept. 24. He was 39. Around the country, Cerniglia was best known for Campania's 2007 appearance on "Kitchen Nightmares," a Fox reality show in which British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay tries to rescue struggling restaurants by restructuring their operations.
A resident of Wayne, Cerniglia won Chef Central's Bergen County Ultimate Chef Competition in 2008, was a former executive chef at the Gallagher's Steakhouse chain in New York and bought Campania six years ago. The restaurant was awarded with the distinction of "New Jersey's Best Meatball" by Bergen County in 2007.
crazylady
4:32 pm on Friday, January 7, 2011
funny thing is neuman owned mommas kitchen in paramus and suddenly shut down with "no reason" the same time as joes death.... and the staff was told they were going to reopen in a few weeks which was months ago! neuman seems to open places and close them with no reason and leave people high and dry for jobs and to top it off it all seems a little funny that he keeps opening and shuting down places all around the area. he should be opening his next venture in paramus on 17 south next to starbucks im sure it will close with in a few months for no reason and with no notice
Julia Enerson
5:21 pm on Friday, January 7, 2011
Looks like Campania is gone for good: http://www.caspert.com/auctions.php
john
4:48 pm on Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Hmmm...wonder if owed money to the mob?
John Smith
11:43 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012
Neuman does allot more than open and close establishments and leave people high and dry, he has a long history of presenting himself as owner of large funds located in Luxembourg that he claims to own and control, then gets investors to think he is a managing partner and owner of such funds, similar to the Luxembourg Life Fund and Carlsile Management. He is a slick con man and very dangerous to do business with. I know at least a dozen people that have been ripped off by Neuman. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS CON MAN....
John Smigh
Srebrina Mincheva
4:00 am on Sunday, April 28, 2013
I wonder why he killed himself. Sounds like he got involved with the wrong people. That 'sale' must have not gone as planned. It is horrible that a father of 3 young kids will opt to leave them behind. I feel like someone took care of him...