my favorite restaurant closed
i'm watching the bear and sydney said something along the lines of "it's hard to work in a restaurant and not lose your mind."
when you have a neighborhood place, somewhere that's been a cornerstone of your community, it is like heartbreak to see it close. The Press in Claremont, California is, and has, been my favorite restaurant for years. it's where my family would go to eat before I was born, where my teenage cousin revealed to them that she was pregnant with my cousins, where my parents would go on date nights before I came around. and now it's gone.
they closed it in 2020 with lockdown, and their website has said they were coming back soon for months, for years. I'm watching the bear and sydney's risotto is a dish they would've had as a special and I'm thinking of them. I'm thinking of the cooks whose names my dad knew, the times we'd go in and my dad would ask about what's-his-name, and you-know-who, and every guy that was "my man." any waiter or manager or owner who did him a favor was and is "my man."
when you have a neighborhood place, you have a family. you have the setting for a scene, the go-to restaurant for anything and everything you've got going on. birthdays, weddings, funerals, everybody knows The Press.
I think of the hostess with the dyed green hair and the medusa piercing who was always so kind to me, who, when I asked for hot chocolate, went to the back and had them make it for me, for free. I think of the cooks who had to suddenly deal with a new menu and make it work, regardless. I think of the somewhat dim lighting, the jazz performances we rarely caught as they always happened on a school night, and the love shown in every vegetarian burrito I ordered. the quesadillas they made with cheese bought from the specialty cheese shop a few streets over. the specials they had, which always came with a soup or salad, entree, and dessert. there was love in there.
I'm sure it took a lot of work. that was a well-oiled machine if you've ever seen one. it couldn't have been easy. but they managed to make it look like it was. I don't know the heartaches or the pain it took to run that place for over 20 years but I hope the love that once was has traveled somewhere not so far and I can taste it again.
their website is dead and gone now, with godaddy taking ownership of their domain again. they managed to keep the place rented in their name for like 3 years so idk why they couldn't come back. but I'll miss them forever.
I miss you, The Press. You're my favorite.
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