Mourning the loss of your "Favorite Restaurant"
 

This last year, my absolute favorite restaurant in the world closed. I was shocked. I loved "Bistro 110" in Chicago's Water Tower area. I went there every chance I could, and especially for Brunch on Sunday. This French Bistro was outstanding. I had never seen any restaurant pair fresh French bread with roasted Garlic and home made Raspberry preserves before. Incredible. And their rotisserie Chicken with fresh roasted veggies (including Parsnip) was the best ever.
They closed without warning, and recently re-opened as "An Italian" Restaurant. Go figure. An Italian restaurant in Chicago. How unique.

So I'm in mourning.

Does anyone else have a restaurant they "Mourn" for?

Not that anyone who doesn't live in Northern San Diego has ever heard of this place, but there was a tiny Vietnamese place named Chieu-Anh in a strip mall in Rancho Bernardo, that was wonderful, and a great value. I miss it a lot.

Ironically, I still eat in the same place often, because the very good Japanese place next door, named Akai Hana took over the space by expanding into it. Now, when I go there, I refer to tables in this section as the "Chieu-Ahn wing"

It's been years, but I still miss Amadeus Restaurant in Stamford, CT. It was way out of it's class to be there, but was always a great place for a fantastic meal that you could linger over for hours, impeccable service, and a great wine list.

It has also been years, but I miss Alma in San Francisco. I think it closed in 2004-05ish. They had the best pork chop I've ever had.

I still miss Honmura An in New York. I have visited Honmura An in Tokyo, and on the last time I was there I think there were 7 of us from NY in there that night. But that is a bit of a long way to go :(

I have mourned the loss of many. All in the Sacramento area, and all so small that only a Sacto native would have heard of them. Eddy's Brau-Hof, Golden Tee, The Hot Pastrami, Blue Iris Cafe, Corral Reef, Marie's Drive in..... Others too.

I always loved Square One in SF, and was sorry to see it close. I ran into Joyce Goldstein a few years later and told her how much I missed the restaurant, and she said that people tell her that all the time.

Wow. That's a lot of mourning. I'm a fan of the Sacramento area. Not sure why, but I always enjoy being there, and I happen to like the airport - not too big, not too small. Even the names "Eddy's Brau-Hof", and "The Hot Pastrami" have me mourning their losses and I did not even know them. :(

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I still remember the home made ice cream at Square One. ;)

I mourn a tiny Italian restaurant near where I used to live. The food was mediocre, the servers simply average, but my friends and I passed so many landmarks there, birthdays, exam results, promotions, 'last suppers' before weddings etc. It grew to the point that even when better restaurants had opened, we'd still feel nostalgic and go there. I do miss it!

http://www.dulcineachocolatecafe.ca/index.html this cafe. Oh dear. Such pity it closed. Insane rents in Vancouver made it infeasible to operate :(

The Russian Tea Room (pre-1997).

I mourned the passing of my 'Favorite' little burger place which was a great pizzeria also. Had been opened for ever it seemed, then boom closed. They managed to re-open a year later in a new location however location change and ongoing issues with the owner caused that location to close within a year too.

There may be joy in Mudville after all....

Back during the Bush II years, a little Mexican seafood place in the barrio became the hangout for national media types covering events in nearby Crawford (15 miles up the road). At the same time, a cadre of upscale dining locals became familiar patrons. Though not there as frequently as some of the local "establishment", it became our "Favorite de jour".

With decent ceviche, a half dozen pleasant fish entrees and Snapper a la Veracruzana of especial merit, "Siete Mares" did well, but saw the numbers decline after the focus of political reporting relocated. Last year, almost without warning, it closed, the owner, a decent chef originally trained by the closest thing Waco had to a "Master Chef (although a bit New Orleans-fixated), relocating to a tiny breakfast and lunch cafe across town.

Now, he's rented a downtown location, formerly occupied by an underwhelming series of TexMex operators, and is busily revamping the space, pretty barren and basic, but with a decent kitchen and equipment, to bring back a reborn "Siete Mares".

Reincarnations seem to have a modest level of success, but I'm hoping Sergio's redo works. I've missed his food, and being enough of a "regular" to be given a pass on the "corkage" fee for bringing in wine and beer. Come to think of it, at the old place, he didn't even charge "corkage" for the first few years, until "real" dime-store wine glasses replaced the original juice glasses and he bought a couple of corkscrews for the waitresses.

A party of 6 or 8, lugging a big ice chest of cold beer or one of those fancy shopping bags with several bottles of wine, remains a symbol of fine dining out here in non-metro "Flyover Country".

My spouse and I used to go to the same restaurant every Friday night. The owners got to know us by name, our favorite dishes, our birthdays, you name it. We were frequently guinea pigs for dishes that they wanted to serve as specials. There were no questions; that's where dinner Friday night was. The owners became more than proprietors. They were friends.

One night we went there as normal to find that the doors were still locked, but we could see the owners and one of the waitresses inside. They unlocked the door for us; we could see something was very wrong before they told us they weren't going to open that night. One owner had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and died within months.

There are two things in science fiction that we want to come true: a medical device that instantly heals, and time travel.

LK - you are still missed after all these years.