Point Reyes’ Osteria Stellina, an ambitious farm-to-table restaurant that garnered national praise for its regional Italian cuisine will close at the end of August.
It’s a warning siren for what will likely be a tsunami of closures in the next three months as forgivable federal loans and savings dry up, employees seek other careers, customers remain wary and restauranteurs who’ve pivoted a hundred times say this new “normal” just isn’t sustainable.
Though there are glimmers of hope on the horizon — like the Restaurants Act, a $120 billion fund that could generate $24 billion for California, save 822,700 jobs for the state’s independent restaurants and bars, and assist the 55,350 small farms in California — it may be too little too late.
For Osteria Stellina’s owner Christian Caiazzo it was simply time to cut his losses. He explained his painful decision in a heartfelt letter saying that it was “a smart move” after muddling through years of ups and downs. Acknowledging that his restaurant “built on food politics” faced an uphill battle even in the best of times — buying expensive locally-sourced food, paying for employees’ health insurance and being located in a remote corner of Marin — he said he had zero regrets.
“As cruel as it is that Stellina will disappear, that we will retain absolutely nothing tangible to take away from this, that we will exist only in memory, I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” said Caiazzo.
So far, only a handful of local restaurants including Bistro 29 and Whole Pie have announced closures due to the pandemic.
loved that place……we had a few wonderful meals there, it will be missed……too bad TRUMP CALLED THE VIRUS A HOAX and REFUSED TO WEAR A MASK FOR 5 MONTHS……and now AMERICA IS DESTROYED by the trump virus
Hey clowns, how about we use the comments to celebrate what Stellina brought to PRS? I am so sorry this pandemic brought them down. They built something wonderful that made the world a better place.
Yes, we should move from here . . . I’m done with it, but he started it first!! LOL Peace all & stay safe!
Maybe someday this will all end, but I have my doubts. ?
and the dems in power are hell bent to put most restaurant owners out of business and then try to blame it on the Republicans. Its in the Democratic tool kit of Joe Biden. They dont’ care about families, children, or the small business owner.
Correct.
You guys are funny. Now, get outta Mama’s basement and go find a real job.
Sorry, stupid. I work and have been working. I’ve seen your beloved Dems put lots of people out of work, though.
the TRUMP VIRUS destroyed america…half the nation is out of work…..aint maga grand?
Hmm. I just checked and Google says the current unemployment rate is 11.1% and falling. But you think that’s “half the nation,” huh? Um, okay. I can have my 5 year-old tutor you in some basic math if you’d like. Typical dumb Dem. SMH
Amazing to see people turn a sad story into some crazy political statement. Please crawl back under your rock.
Three corrections to lovestohike:
1) the republicans are in power as they hold the White House and control the Senate and they have taken control of the judiciary by not approving the well qualified and moderate Democrat judiciary recommendations when the Democrats were in the White House;
2) it is the republicans who are holding up programs to provide for those out of work and those small business that are impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic; and
3) Had the republican White House created a coordinated and meaningful response to the epidemic we could be opening up the economy faster just as the other affluent countries in the world are doing having reduced the infection rate of the virus while the number of infections is still rapidly growing in the United States.
It’s the Democrats who have proposed solutions while the republicans have returned to a using a lack of compassion and concern about what happens to Americans.
1. Um, hello? The GOP is not in control of CA – you know, where this restaurant closed? Also, the dumb Dems in the House won’t even work with the GOP Senate on a simple police reform bill. You obviously don’t know how government works. Try getting educated on the subject. And what do “judiciary recommendations” have to do with the Chinavirus?
2. Wrong. It is the Dems and loons like Pelosi who are holding things up because they want funding to go to stupid non-virus related pet projects.
3. Wrong again. What were the Dems’ “solutions?” They criticized Trump for shutting down incoming international flights. Dems like Andrew Cuomo sent thousands of seniors to their deaths in nursing homes. The highest COVID death counts are from Dem-run states (NY, NJ, CT, MA). Yeah, those Dems sure have great “solutions,” right?
We disagree. You can build your opinion anyway you want; I’ll base mine on facts. Oh, among the several things you got wrong is that the infection and death rates per population are highest in the republican states that resisted (as some still do) the safety precautions. The increase in infections in California came as a result of reopening too fast, thereby delaying the time until we can reopen more completely.
Here’s a chart of infection rate per 100,000 population by the major states. Note that even though California show some increases it is far below most of the Southern States that resisted the recomended precautions. Again, look at the rate per population, not just the number of cases as the more populated states are most likely to have more cases because they have more people. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/health/coronavirus-us-maps-and-cases/
Your Republican hate ignores the facts and exposes your pathetic bias. You sound like another disgusting Dem who is rooting for deaths in GOP states. Refute any of my facts if you can. BTW – infection rates mean nothing since there are so many asymptomatic people who have the virus and don’t even know it. The CDC estimates that number could be over 20 times the confirmed number of positive cases. The rising infection rates are mostly because we are testing so much and identifying many of these people. Also, the spikes in CA prove that lockdowns don’t make much of a difference because the virus doesn’t go away by just locking down. There are spikes happening in many places all over the world. Some spikes are in countries that locked down and some that didn’t. Look it up.
But to better measure and be more fair about how well states have dealt with the virus, look at the COVID deaths by state per 100,000 of the population.
Here’s the top ten:
1. NJ, 177
2. NY, 168
3. CT, 124
4. MA, 123
5. RI, 94
6. LA, 77
7. MI, 64
8. IL, 60
9. MD, 56
10. PA, 55
That’s a lot of deaths in a lot Dem-run states. So, no, Dems certainly don’t have the solutions. But you already knew that, right? Sorry if facts hurt your feelings.
Congratulations on an all to typical conservative response of personal attack. Absurd comments like “You sound like another disgusting Dem who is rooting for deaths in GOP states.” only serve to invalidate you as a messenger. The idea that someone is “rooting for deaths” does nothing but open the question of your character.
Now to the statistics: Your statistics are death rates by state since the beginning of the outbreak. In a cursory search I could not find death rates for more recent periods as the early outbreaks were in the more densely populated area when no effective treatments were known. What we do know is that infections rates by states have changed with rural and more conservative states and states that started opening up too quickly that ignored what are generally accepted preventative measures now having higher infection rates than before and that probably impacts death rate. The other thing that is happening is that the current administration no longer is having COVID data sent to the CDC by the states so date collection and analysis is no longer as accurate.
The conclusion is that as we learned more about how to prevent and treat the disease, the outbreak has shifted to the more rural states that were slow to implement the actions that could reduce the spread of the highly contagious disease; that we have become better at identifying and treating COVID than before; that other countries have shown us that the best way to reopen the economy is to aggressively prevent the spread by use of masks, social distancing, and proper hygiene; that are ability to get accurate data has been compromised by a new Federal policy on reporting; and that accusing anyone of “rooting for deaths” is irresponsible.
Finally, I’m not quite sure how this discussion got into an article about restaurants.
Ya, I live in the Phoenix, AZ area. We have Dumb Doug “Death Merchant” Ducey who has his nose so far up #45′ butt he can smell what trumps eating. People (not in the lower 1/3 of the country) here are listening to them & drinking hand samitizer, and dying. They are doing stupid stuff not wearing masks & not distancing. No one is “rooting” for deaths . . . . . . except maybe for the right wing politicians who want to decrease social security payments to older folks (I’m 76) so we are expendable. They will keep their families safe, while forcing essential workers, hospital staff, etc. to serve them! Shameful what the repulsive, reptilian righties are doing to our constitution, therefore our society & country! SAD!
Yes, I am being as obnoxious as the righties! I like the Lincoln Project’s anti-trump videos. Fight the right, with the right. They know how to really hurt trump! Fire with fire!
My character? Nice try, but look in the mirror as you’re the one who seems to be rooting for deaths in GOP states. You’re probably also rooting for continued economic hardships for others so that you can blame Trump, right? You fall right in line with your CNN heroes. How loyal of you. China loves people like you.
Your refusal to acknowledge the horrific jobs of Dems like Cuomo, DeBlasio, Biden, and Pelosi prove that you have no credibility.
A few more facts for you:
– Despite pleas not to, Cuomo ordered infected seniors back to nursing homes and caused the deaths of thousands.
– Despite pleas not to, DeBlasio kept crowded and unsanitized NYC subways and mass transit running (with no mask requirements!) well into May before finally shutting them down ensuring maximum spread of the virus throughout the NY metro area.
– Biden: “Trump is wrong to shut down travel to China. He’s being xenophobic.”
– Pelosi: “Come to Chinatown. Come join us.”
LOL
So you find the deaths of thousands funny. Got it.
You should move to China. They welcome your kind.
Merrill, grow up and stop the insults. Besides this is really about loosing a good restaurant, not the political situation. I’m sorry I replied to you expecting a respectful answer; opinions that differ from mine can be respectful you know.
“Besides this is really about loosing a good restaurant, not the political situation.”
–
LOL! Oh, really? Your first comment on this was railing against Republicans!
Typical Dem hypocrisy. SMH
Give up! It is useless to try to communicate with anyone from the lower third of the country. Let him follow his leader & keep drinking the orange kook-aid! Truth & facts are, to them, like sunlight to a vampire, they avoid them at all cost. Even their own. So invested in the orange buffoon’s idiocy, they refuse to even care for themselves, as long as he is attacking the “others.” That will be until he comes for them & then it will be too late for them.
but its a HOAX trump said…as he refused to wear a mask for 5 months……it will “MAGICALLY” go away he said….trump is too busy posting WHITE POWER videos on twitter to care about the hoax virus…hahaha, maga 2020
Actually, it’s KAG 2020. But you lefty dolts just keep on blessing the looting, arson, vandalizing, and assaults if you think that’s a winning strategy. Please keep it up since it’s only helping Trump. Thank you, dumb Dems! Thank you!
but its a HOAX like trump says……as he refused to wear a mask for 5 months……THE TRUMP VIRUS DESTROYED AMERICA