My favorite place in Los Angeles to consume beef — Wolfgang's Steakhouse on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills — closed as of last night. Its owner Wolfgang Zwiener operates many other Wolfgang's Steakhouses in many other cities and says he's searching for another spot in town here. I'm skeptical because in the past when a favorite eatery of mine closed and its proprietors said they'd reopen soon in another location, that never happened. We can only hope this time will be an exception.
One bright spot, though: Nate N' Al's Delicatessen will move into that piece of real estate. Nate N' Al's is located on the other side of the same block and they have to vacate their spot of many, many years because the building's being demo'ed soon. So there will at least be a great restaurant at Wolfgang's old address. It'll just be one serving the best potato salad in Los Angeles instead of one with the best Porterhouse steaks.
Meanwhile, there's a battle going on to save Tom Bergin's, an 83-year-old Irish pub/restaurant in my neighborhood. I don't care a lot about this one because I don't drink, don't like being around drinkers and because — thanks to Tom Bergin's and one other nearby Irish pub — we could usually expect one real nasty traffic accident in the area every St. Patrick's Day. The food at Tom Bergin's (which I did partake of a few times) was innocuous and I think they closed that part of the operation.
What makes this interesting is that fans of the establishment are fighting to have the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission declare it a historic cultural monument which must not be razed or significantly altered. You know, like the statue of Jubilation T. Cornpone in the center square in Dogpatch.
Many people are fighting for Tom Bergin's to be so designated. Who's against it? The owners of Tom Bergin's.
I'm all for preserving history most of the time but sometimes, it just doesn't seem practical. Tom Bergin's closed a few years ago and it reopened when the current owners acquired it to save it because they loved it. They couldn't make a go of it and now they want to unload the business and expect it will be much harder to do so — i.e., they'll get less money — if it has historic cultural monument status.
It seems to me like a business which a lot of people loved but not enough to go there often and spend money. That's the way to preserve a business: Go there and spend money. Of course, I tried that with Wolfgang's and there apparently weren't enough of us.