Sometimes residents of the Eater Hospice spend months and months on death's doorstep, the nurses here forced to mechanically replace their morphine drips every 18 hours seemingly ad infinitum. On the other hand, sometimes death is on schedule. Via the Restaurant Girl, official word from Bullfrog & Baum, who really inherited a stinker when their client Wayne Nish got involved (side memo to Baum: would it have killed you to send us this one release directly?):
On June 18th, Varietal closed its dining room as the owners reexamine the direction of the restaurant. In the meantime, Varietal will continue to welcome guests at its Tasting Bar Monday through Saturday, 5:00pm to Midnight.On to the paperwork:
Varietal
STATUS: CLOSED
Time on the 'Watch: 81 Days
Prognosis/Analysis: Nish's eye towards the door from the outset didn't help matters, but the DWC's initial prediction that the place wouldn't survive the summer was based on a larger picture problem: Varietal is a severe concept in a more severe space. Deathwatch University Lesson #23B: People need to feel coddled if they're to return. The one final chapter that we may see here is some sort of change-over to a lounge. Don't be surprised if the epilogue is an announcement that Varietal is now Varietal Cafe, offering wines by the glass, small plates and couches where the dining room was. We do hope owner Gregory Hockenberry gets back in the game though, as his proprietor instincts are better than Varietal's performance suggests.
· Varietal's Last Breaths [RG]
· Deathwatch: Varietal [~E~]
