On Thursday morning Jonathan Roberts set about preparing to open, as usual. But the night before, Feb. 15, he took to social media to inform his customers of an unfortunate decision.
PigWizard, a destination for porchetta, sausages, rinds and pretty much all things pork, is shutting its doors. According to Roberts, the shop will remain open through Feb. 26, serving sandwiches and takeaway goods. After that, however, he will operate online until sold out.
“I could talk for hours about the reasons,” Roberts says, an hour before opening on Thursday. “But now is not the time.”
On social media he outlined some of the realities that led to the decision to close, including the pandemic, rising prices and the recent downpours. The combination “resulted in increasing my debt while reducing my ability to pay it back.”
PigWizard opened in 2018, much to the delight of devoted customers of the artisanal sausages and other items Roberts sold, often from a cooler. He had struggled to locate and settle on a brick and mortar location until signing on at the ground floor of the space that also houses Osteria al Mare.
In his announcement, Roberts encouraged people to support local businesses. “Please go eat at your favorite small and family owned restaurant,” he wrote. “They cannot exist without you.”
Roberts plans to continue at the Cannery Row location producing his popular caramel pork rinds—“pork corn”—as long as he can.
“We are putting all of our remaining eggs in one basket for a mad dash to…somewhere,” he added. “We appreciate everyone that loved eating our sausage.”
Roberts does not rule out future popup events.
PigWizard is at 32 Cannery Row, Monterey. It is open Wednesday-Sunday 11am-5pm. 641-7316, pigwizard.com