Thursday, February 13, 2014

The end of an era, not to mention the most delicious potato feta balls ever...

Just around the corner from where I live there's a cafe.  They make a good breakfast, the staff take the time to get to know their regulars and learn their orders, the parking is great considering the location on a busy main road, and they have a nice little table just the right size for me stuck away in a back corner.

Is it any wonder that I quickly became a regular?

Every Saturday morning I find myself here, sitting at my regular table with my regular breakfast and my laptop in front of me, just killing a few hours before going to do the grocery shopping.  They know my name, bring me my breakfast without me having to ask for it, and the manager seems to have an almost supernatural instinct about when I'll need a top up on my diet coke.  Sure they may have a tendency to forget the butter, but nobody's perfect.  In almost every other respect they are a good, reliable cafe.

Or perhaps I should say were.

They've changed hands!  My regular cafe has changed owners and now it doesn't look like my cafe anymore.  I walked in this morning and there's grass in the outside dining area.  Grass!  Sure, it's fake grass, but still.

And the menu has changed.  My usual order isn't on it anymore.  Sure, I was able to order something that was an approximation of it, and it was nice enough, but the toast wasn't the same and the potato feta balls had been replaced with normal hash browns.  God I'm going to miss those potato feta balls.

But the worst betrayal?  My table is gone.

The old owners had about half a dozen tables set up in the small inside eating area and I'd always pick the one in the back corner where I could just sit for hours and not get in anybody's way.  But now they've replaced it with an enormous table for ten.  How on earth am I supposed to write without feeling self conscious if I can't sit with my back to the wall?

I kind of feel like I've been evicted and nobody bothered to tell me.

I know I'm being unreasonable.  Things can't stay the same forever.  But I'm just feeling a bit displaced at the moment, sitting at a brightly striped table out on some rather unrealistic looking Astro-turf.

I suppose I should try looking on the bright side ... maybe these guys will remember the butter.

18 comments:

  1. It's these little things that matter so very much and throw us for a loop when they change.

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  2. I can't believe they made those changes without checking with you!

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  3. Change in routine is hard especially if you sense this change isn't for the better. Maybe it's time to find a new special place that has a feel similar to the old management style. Astro-turf can't be a good thing for a place serving food.

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  5. My condolences. I hate it when that happens.

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  6. This is not unreasonable at all! You need to ask them where to find the potato balls and tell them to get cracking on finding your table.Now I am sad for you AND hungry...craving something I have never eaten and would not know where to find one (or ten)

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  7. Well really! how dare they not inform you that change was in the air!
    Aw, I feel for you, it was a routine you loved - and they took it away, the crumbs!

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  8. Oh, that's difficult. My place in my neighborhood changed managers and it went downhill. Fortunately, I dared to try the place across the street and we're very happy together.

    Love,
    Janie

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  9. That sucks when beloved businesses are taken over like a friend who decides to dabble in crack. But how much leisure time and disposable cash do you have to become a regular in a cafe? Can I interest you in a sponsorship opportunity (I could really use a sugar-momma.)?

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  10. Want my guess? Many seek a little table stuck in a cafe's back corner...from time to time. Might not trust one that didn't

    ..

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  11. How dare them! I've done business with some like that, ones that I truly felt comfortable in, then....pffft. Gone! I don't do well with change, either.

    S

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  12. It's hard enough for me to venture outside my house without having the outside world changing.Fortunately, I try and stick to places time forgot.

    Find a new place!

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  13. I hate it when businesses change hands, it's just never the same in look or style and unfortunately some "businesses" just don't give a shit about customer service. So all I can say is if you don't like, find somewhere else nearby.

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  14. I'm sorry they swept the table out from under you. I'm a bit like you, when I discover a place I like, it almost becomes a routine.

    Hopefully you can find another cool spot that's just as good or even better. If not, then take up residence in their kitchen. :)

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  15. Here's how to deal with it:
    1. Write an anonymous note to the owner expressing your hurt at not having a private table and no potato feta balls.
    2. Tell them you will do a face book campaign if they don't agree to your pleas
    3. Tell them you will not return if you don't get your own way, so they will lose out on a famous blogger gracing their premises each week.
    4. Tell them you'll do a 2-day post about them, if they don't comply
    5. Put it in an envelop and post with no return address and don't forget to give them a deadline.

    Let me know if it works. If not, look for the feta balls elsewhere, because these people are hard-headed.

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  16. Kellie I am really mad that they took your balls away ! ~ umm ~ err ~ your potato balls away !! ;)

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