Sorry to be the bearer of very, very bad news but Chicky and I have decided to close the Fine Diner as of last Saturday night, May 5th, 2007. After much weeping and gnashing of teeth the past several days we decided that this was the only course of action that made any sense. It's the classic restaurant mistake -- not starting with enough money in the bank -- that gets repeated thousands of times a year around the country. I should have known better. That coupled with the approaching of June, July and August (historically our slowest time of the year) means that even had we been able to come up with enough cash to keep the doors open we'd likely have found ourselves in the exact same situation, minus three months of our lives and thousands of dollars, at the end of the summer. That prospect was simply too daunting too take.
We both want to thank deeply all of our incredibly loyal employees, musicians, regulars, customers, investors and vendors who have helped make Chicky's what it was over the past three years. Specifically the great bands and musicians are too many to list by name, please keep up the great work. Even after living in Austin for years I've never seen such an intense and vibrant social and musical scene develop so quickly. It's been a great pleasure for both of us (despite the day-to-day brutality of operating a business in the red) to get to know each and every one of you. Special thanks to the members of the staff that stuck around for the last few days, as they certainly went far above and beyond the call of duty.
I have no idea what the future holds for Chicky and I, but rest assured that it will involve live music in some form, though I'm equally sure we're out of the restaurant business for the foreseeable future. I'm helping my friend and co-conspirator David to finish up his solo album, and you'll certainly see our band (the Bourbonnaires) playing somewhere this summer. I hope to run into each of you in my travels the next few months, and let's have a beer and commiserate. Peace.
Blake