A few days ago we reported on Uptown Pie Co. owner Darius Williams’ hope to sell his pie truck so he could focus on other parts of his business. At the time it sounded like Williams planned to expand within his existing Wilson Avenue businesses, Uptown Pie Co. and The Cupcake Gallery, but he’s now sent out a letter (as reported by Uptown Update) saying that he plans to close both businesses (which are really the same shop) on November 27th.
Williams writes:
I’ve decided that it’s time to dream bigger and take bigger steps. That’s difficult to do when you’re holding on to a part of the past…
This is a happy time for me. The last 2 and a half years have been tremendous. The support every customer has shown are beats that will be forever etched in my heart. I’m grateful for that. Some people will never know how that feels. I consider myself blessed.
Williams plans a party for friends and favorite customers on November 26th before closing his doors.
Edgeville Buzz reports that Edgewater’s Bananas Foster Cafe, a popular brunch spot which had recently expanded, shut down with a short message on its Facebook page. The restaurant had grown in several directions, including dinners made with sustainable ingredients and jazz nights, and it may have overextended itself, but commenters on the Facebook announcement seemed incredulous that a place which by all reports did well at brunch had closed.
Less incredible, perhaps, is the news that one of Chicago’s very few Southwestern/New Mexican-tinged spots, Abiquiu Cafe in Lakeview, quietly closed a few weeks back. The restaurant never succeeded in communicating why New Mexican food was something different that people needed to check out in a city full of (old) Mexican, and muddied the waters this summer by embarking on a Next-like journey, supposedly every three months, to showcase different regional cuisines such as Low Country southern food or Kansas City BBQ, which was ambitious but came off more like identity confusion.
