Asbury Park's The Mainstay, formerly The Bonney Read, has closed

After 10 years at the corner of Cookman and Bangs avenues in Asbury Park, Chef James Avery is moving on.

The Mainstay, a bar and lounge that replaced The Bonney Read restaurant and bar last fall, served its last drink on Sept. 8.

"Businesses don't have to stay open forever," said Avery, who with Sebastian Walker managed the restaurant through their Nicely Done Hospitality group. "It's not going to be the first business I close, it's not going to be the last business I close, and it's not going to be the only one I ever open."

He and Walker also operate The Black Swan, a European gastropub in the city, which remains open.

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The economy in a post-COVID world

The decision to convert The Bonney Read, a seafood-focused restaurant known for its raw bars, into the more casual, Mainstay, a "less labor-intensive and price-appropriate-for-the-times concept," was a result of economic factors following the pandemic, Avery said.

"The last year we were in business ... the cost that it took to make The Bonney what it was was no longer going to be sustainable in a post-COVID world," Avery said. "Asbury became a very seasonal town, and the seafood concept is very seasonal. I just couldn't operate The Bonney anymore the way it was operated for previous years, post-COVID.

"I had to change The Bonney," said Avery, adding as an example that one of the restaurant's biggest draws — $1 oysters — could not continue when the restaurant's cost was triple the price.

"You don't have to be an economist to understand the economy's in a bad place. Everything in life is timing, and the economic times, where we're at in the world with housing costs, inflation and staffing, ... sometimes things aren't clicking and you have to make a tough decision."

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'Like being stuck in a boat without a paddle'

A lack of parking in the city also played a part in the decision, he said.

"Nobody that makes restaurant money can afford to live in Asbury anymore. Restaurant employees can't afford to live in Asbury Park anymore, so they're coming from outside," Avery said. "So parking not only affects our staffing, it affects our customers because when everybody wants to come into town at 7 o'clock and there's no parking, that's a big issue."

Another factor, he said, is that the restaurant group and its partners have not yet received "a substantial, six-figure amount of money" from the federal government in relation to a COVID-era employee retention tax credit, or ERTC, which was offered to help businesses remain open and their staff employed during and after the pandemic.

"It's like being stuck in a boat without a paddle," Avery said. "I needed that paddle to get back to safety, and I didn't get it."

The restaurant group is looking for a tenant to take over the remaining two years on its lease at 525 Cookman Ave., which is owned by Sackman Enterprises.

As for The Black Swan, "(the restaurant) is doing good enough. People love it," Avery said. "But to say that it's not feeling economic and staffing pressures would be a lie. We're not in any immediate danger. We're doing good. I'm optimistic about it."

A return to television

Another factor in Avery's decision to move on from The Mainstay is his return to FOX's "Hell's Kitchen," a cooking competition show on which he previously appeared.

He is working as Gordon Ramsay's on-camera sous chef on the show, which filmed this spring and summer at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

The 23rd season of the show premieres Thursday, Sept. 26.

"I reconnected with Gordon Ramsay and it's been great," Avery said, "and hopefully that opens up doors for me as well."

Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2003 and has been writing all things food since 2014. Send restaurant tips to [email protected], follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to our Jersey Shore Eats newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park: The Mainstay, formerly The Bonney Read, has closed