Okemos Restaurant Red Haven is Closing Its Doors…For Now

It can be hard to say goodbye to local businesses and the people that own them, especially when we've known them for going on a decade. Thankfully, this doesn't seem like goodbye forever for this Okemos restaurant. This just seems like goodbye for now.

Okemos Restaurant Closing Its Doors

In a post to their Facebook page, the owners of Red Haven, a farm-to-table restaurant in Okemos, have decided to close the doors of their restaurant this month (June 2022). In the Facebook post, the co-owners Tony Maiale and Nina Santucci share with patrons that it was a hard decision to come to, but that they have decided to close Red Haven after almost 10 years in business.

They do say that Covid, in part, has been a "catalyst" for the closure. Other contributing factors are the ever-growing costs for food and gas, not to mention that the two owners are married and have two young children at home. All of these factors have led them to the difficult decision to close. However, this is not a permanent goodbye for Red Haven. The owners have something new in the works.

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Red Haven Restaurant Transforming into Something New

While the Facebook post about the closure talked about why they were closing the restaurant and thanking everyone who's ever patronized the business, the owners also mentioned that a "Red Haven 2.0 [is] in the works". Maiale and Santucci are looking to move the business into some different enterprises, like cooking for private events and offering cooking classes, allowing them to have the freedom to still be creative, but also allowing them a bit more predictability than the always unpredictable restaurant life.

The couple also owns The Purple Carrot Food Truck, which has been featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. No word on what the future holds for The Purple Carrot.

Red Haven's Last Meal

If you don't want Red Haven to close without saying your goodbyes, they are offering last meals during the last week they are open. They are ticketed dinners on June 17th and 18th that will feature some of their favorite dishes from over the years. You can find more info on that HERE.