Never thought the rich folk felt the pain...so sad.

Restaurants in Portland are really a zero-sum game. If a new one opens, an old one has to go . . . . Fortunately, our favorite neighborhood café seems still to draw a crowd, even early on Mondays.

The food racket is a tough game. Spent 4 years in AZ in the biz and got out. When you don't know from day to day what your food costs are going to be, it makes for some sleepless nights.

The increases in food prices, fuel prices and now a significant decrease in customers spells death for many. If you have a favorite spot, I suggest you support it to the best of you ability as it may not be there next week if you don't.

Perhaps we can look forward to a dining guide that lists only average and those in the dirty dining category?

Wow, that's a shame. Thirty-eight years in business and killed by the Bush Administration.

The restaurant is about a block from my business (which is still doing okay) but alas, I haven't eaten there in ten years. It was a memorable meal, though.

Nooooo! Dang. Never got to try it.

I made it a few times, but not in the last decade. Great stuff. No wonder Mick Jagger used to eat there.

The best part was that it was in a real Old Portland building in a neighborhood on the east side -- not some particle board junk structure in a fake New York inflicted on us by City Hall.

Sad but inevitable, I suppose.

Genoa and the old L'Auberge on Burnside were the first "real" French and Italian restaurants I knew in Portland, and they made an indelible impression, though that was too many years ago--30 or 40?

Since then I've had many fine meals in Italy, France, and Portland, but I'll always remember those two places fondly as the beginning of my love of those cuisines.

Bagna cauda or mushroom souffle, anyone?

TomR

L'Auberge on Burnside

Thought this was located on NW Thurman at 26th - where Meriwether's is presently located.

But I agree, it was genuinely French.

L'Auberge was in this funky building on Burnside a block or two west of Powell's but on the south side of the street until it moved to the nicer place on Thurman in the early 90s.

Indigine was another fine restaurant from that era when Portland started getting serious about food.

I think that, before it was l'Auberge, it was called the Wood Stove, butt there are also lots of good ones now.

Oops. We can be nostalgic about the old places, but there are lots of good ones now.

Hopefully they put up a super cool condo on the spot!

Ate at Genoa twice, was underwhelmed both times. The second time, I didn't think it was better than what I could have made myself.

That French restaurant on Burnside was Le Cuisinier and it was terrific...