Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The economy takes its toll on Aujourd'hui and Great Bay

Earlier this week, Aujourd'hui announced its closing. This was a little sad for me, as Aujourd'hui is one of the few truly classy joints left in this city. As the restaurant for the Four Seasons, it catered to the rich and privileged, and not so much for me and my people, but it was still the kind of place where you could show up in a ballgown.

But the truly sad news came just a few minutes ago: Great Bay is closing its doors on Saturday. According to the Herald article, the statement was made today by Michael Schlow and Christopher Myers. This is really heartbreaking for me -- this is the place that spawned my love of real food and wine, and taught me everything I know about food. I made great friends there, and learned a lot about the industry and the difference between good service and excellent service.

While the current economic climate makes it hard to keep a restaurant like Great Bay open, at least it went out on top, as the best seafood restaurant in this city. What's shocking is how sudden it is -- Aujourd'hui is closing at the end of June, whereas Great Bay is closing on May 30. I can't imagine making the phone calls to cancel future reservations. So many good memories in that place.

I wonder if this is the beginning of other well-established restaurants beginning to fall from the economy...

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