Closing?: Baccala
We had been concerned by a flurry of chatter about Baccala's potential demise, mostly stoked by a series of sightings of the restaurant half-empty (optimists would say half-full?) during peak hours.
Early signs of trouble were on Yelp:
• "We happened to be dining at what must be an unusual hour for this neighborhood because when we walked in, we seemed to have startled the staff." - Francis K., 7/20/07
• "Walking in, it was a slow night. Only a handful of tables were taken..." - Tony Q., 6/8/07
• "We went on a slow night...and my, the restaurant wasn't even half full at 7:30 pm." - Lindley E., 5/3/07
The situation really started coming to a head in the past few weeks on LTHForum. First, CTB started a thread called "Baccala-Is it on it's last Porcine legs?," bearing familiar bad news: "We arrived a little before 9pm and the place was about 25% filled." Subsequent commenters talked about how both the food and service had been going downhill for months (remember, this was a top-reviewed restaurant when it opened at the end of March).
Finally, this past Friday, a second thread hit LTHForum, entitled "Baccala's Closing." User Mitch Cumstein (we Googled and we think he's for real, despite the name) reported the following:
But we're not entirely convinced that Baccala is closing. Their website is reporting current news (for example, John Bubala did some sort of Garden Chef thing on Sunday), and their voicemail talks about taking reservations. We will find out definitively tomorrow at 6pm when the restaurant opens for the week; we're hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.
Baccala [MenuPages]
Baccala [Official Site]
Baccala [Yelp]
Baccala-Is it on it's last Porcine legs? [LTHForum]
Baccala's Closing [LTHForum]
[Photo: pork belly, screencapped from Metromix]
• "We happened to be dining at what must be an unusual hour for this neighborhood because when we walked in, we seemed to have startled the staff." - Francis K., 7/20/07
• "Walking in, it was a slow night. Only a handful of tables were taken..." - Tony Q., 6/8/07
• "We went on a slow night...and my, the restaurant wasn't even half full at 7:30 pm." - Lindley E., 5/3/07
The situation really started coming to a head in the past few weeks on LTHForum. First, CTB started a thread called "Baccala-Is it on it's last Porcine legs?," bearing familiar bad news: "We arrived a little before 9pm and the place was about 25% filled." Subsequent commenters talked about how both the food and service had been going downhill for months (remember, this was a top-reviewed restaurant when it opened at the end of March).Finally, this past Friday, a second thread hit LTHForum, entitled "Baccala's Closing." User Mitch Cumstein (we Googled and we think he's for real, despite the name) reported the following:
It's true, many may have seen it on their radar, but this weekend is the last for the offshoot of timo, and all its pork filled goodness. And no I will not be working there this weekend, so this is not a shill, but rather a suggestion to go get a pork belly with smoked gouda risotto tonight or tomorrow before they are gone. I truly enjoyed the food there, it made serving it to everyone very honest and easy. Although things were inconsistant in the foh at the end, I think that losing Scylla and Baccala is a terrific blow to a neighborhood whose food options are mediocre at best. I feel bad being the bearer of bad news, but it is better than letting it go without it's goodbye's.and everyone on LTH was sad about it. Maybe the neighborhood wasn't ready for that much porky goodness? they mused.
But we're not entirely convinced that Baccala is closing. Their website is reporting current news (for example, John Bubala did some sort of Garden Chef thing on Sunday), and their voicemail talks about taking reservations. We will find out definitively tomorrow at 6pm when the restaurant opens for the week; we're hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.
Baccala [MenuPages]
Baccala [Official Site]
Baccala [Yelp]
Baccala-Is it on it's last Porcine legs? [LTHForum]
Baccala's Closing [LTHForum]
[Photo: pork belly, screencapped from Metromix]
