Once upon a time in a quaint little town called Pleasant Hill, CA there was an adorable French restaurant called Left Bank. Left Bank was a standout in a town with little in the way of decent food. It was a true French brasserie with a large, beautiful wooden bar, adorable giant-sized vintage wine posters on the walls and beautiful light fixtures. Toward the end of the week a great jazz trio would play and in the summer, almost half of the outer walls in the restaurant were open doors that let in the cool, Northern California breeze.
Over time I came to love this place for the food and the people I met here. The bartenders were friendly, made great drinks and a couple were very interesting people to have a great conversations with while I decompressed. It was also a favorite place for a birthday dinner or to meet the girls for happy hour. They seemed busy enough. I thought.
Imagine my shock and horror when I got a message from one of the bartenders who had become a friend-Cheryl, telling me that two locations would be closing-including the one that I loved (there were only 5 to begin with!) in 2 days. 2 days!?!? I didn’t even know what to do with that information.
So, I said a sad goodbye with one last Kettle One Lemon Drop and wondered where I would go to read a book on a hot summer night alone or where I would take the girls for a drink before the next Sex In The City movie comes out?!! Who would make our cosmos? It was so unfair.
Sadly, that was 4 months ago and these questions remain unanswered.
Alas, there are 2 Left Bank restaurants remaining-both an hour drive in opposite directions from me. Today, I couldn’t resist the pull and came out to the Larkspur location-hoping I could see one of the very few employees from Pleasant Hill that were absorbed while I wrote a blog and looked at what the job market looks like for me at the moment. No luck on any of it except the trip to Larkspur. Goodness knows I look for any excuse to be in my car for a while-if for no other reason than to listen to Dave Matthews or Miss Spears (shhhhhh-don’t tell) a little too loud and sing badly & alone. Okay, so I dance in my car, too. Hush.
I can’t end this post without saying a thing or 2 about the differences between the Pleasant Hill location and the Larkspur location. This is a restaurant that sucks at consistency. Ordering the same things I would ask for in Pleasant Hill (if they are available-and that is a big IF), did not guarantee that I would get the same things. Tre disappointing. The staff is nice enough, and I do like the atmosphere. Overall, it is a food problem. All of the good options are toast in Larkspur-as in gone.
You know what this means, right?? It is long past time for me to develop a cheese fondue recipe to put LB-L to shame. I love ya, Left Bank-but you let me down! If you do order the eversofamous fondue, get a side of chives and pour a couple of spoonfuls into the fondue-you can thank me later.
Don’t feel bad, I’ll get over it by having a scoop of gelato (who knew French restaurants served Italian Ice Cream?) and singing until I lose my voice on the beautiful drive home.
I wonder what I’ll make for dinner…………
http://www.leftbank.com/
J said,
December 27, 2009 at 9:42 am
I miss Left Bank, PH, too. We heard that they were trying to expand by opening another restaurant in WC, and spent too much money on it. With the economy the way it is, that meant they had to close a couple of restaurants in order to save the others. Don’t know if that’s true or not. But we don’t have a lot of good restaurants out here, mostly mediocre, so I really miss Left Bank. And I am snooping around, trying to find a recipe for that yummy fondue. Mmmm.