Humble Pie in Penngrove has closed.
Restaurant owner and chief pie-baker Miriam Donaldson claims the closure was prompted by the sudden loss of their lease. The restaurant closed on October 31.
From Donaldson: “Sad and tragic news. The owner of our building has not renewed our lease and the space once known as the Humble Pie Penngrove will now be “Mack’s bar and grill”. Sunday was our last day, which is pretty sudden but what ya gonna do eh?”
The owner of the building, Robin Pfefer, counters that Humble Pie’s lease ran until March 2011 and the Humble Pie crew left the space without warning.
“They closed for personal reasons, and they were not tossed out or forced to leave. It makes the new owners and me look like the bad guys, but it was their choice to leave before their lease was up,” said Pfefer.
Pfefer is the former owner of the Black Cat Bar which closed in August 2010. When she spoke to BiteClub last summer, Pfefer was clear that she planned to let Humble Pie continue to operate in the cafe space — which is attached to the bar — but would be leasing the bar space to the owners of Cotati’s Eight Ball for a new bar called Mack’s.
What wasn’t clear at the time was that the lease ultimately included the cafe space. Pfefer said she extended the lease to Humble Pie until March 2011 so they could secure a new location before Mack’s took over the space, in good faith to Humble Pie. Pfefer said that the new bar/cafe owners had no involvement in the closure of Humble Pie and did not plan to open their cafe until after Humble Pie’s lease ran out in March.
Both sides maintain they’re in the right. Donaldson told BiteClub she hopes to reopen another restaurant within a year if she can come up with the funding.
Commence mourning.
