Celebrity chef Bryan Voltaggio announced Saturday that his downtown Frederick restaurant Thacher & Rye will close Sunday.
“This decision marks the end of a significant chapter for me at the lead of the kitchen here for over 16 years,” Voltaggio wrote in an Instagram post.
The restaurant, named after the chef’s son and Maryland’s spirit-making history, opened in September 2020, serving traditional American and mid-Atlantic cuisine. It replaced Voltaggio’s modernist restaurant VOLT, which opened in 2008 at the same location and shuttered in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A hostess at the restaurant said they would pass on The Banner’s request for comment to the chef.
Voltaggio, who grew up in the Frederick area, rose to fame after appearing on Season 6 of the cooking reality television show “Top Chef” in 2009. He competed against his brother, Michael. Michael won the season, with Bryan coming in second place.
Bryan Voltaggio was also a runner-up on Season 17 of “Top Chef Masters” in 2020 and starred in “Guy Fieri’s Tournament of Champions” alongside his brother in 2022.
In 2016, the brothers opened Voltaggio Brothers Steak House at the MGM National Harbor.
Thacher & Rye will be replaced by the Ordinary Hen, led by chef Bradley Butts with a new concept and menu serving Appalachian cuisine such as pot roast, fried chicken and collard greens, to be washed down with cocktails such as a classic old fashioned or a rum-based Peachy Keen.
Bryan Voltaggio, who will turn his attention to a new project in Visitation Frederick Hotel, will assist with the transition through a mentorship-based role, he wrote in the post on Instagram.
“Thacher & Rye was a great addition to Downtown Frederick,” he wrote, “and a concept and idea I was certainly proud of.”
