THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, April 3, 2012— Page 9
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– LOCAVORE BRIEFS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Stonyfield Cafe in Falmouth closes its doors BY DAVID CARKHUFF THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
Saturday marked the last day in business for Stonyfield Cafe in Falmouth, a natural-foods cafe located in a plaza along Route 1. “It is with extraordinary sadness that we announce that we have closed the cafe permanently,” owners and staff reported at the restaurant’s website (www.stonyfieldcafe.com). Mac McCabe, who partnered with Stonyfield company co-founder Gary Hirshberg to launch the healthymenu cafeteria-style restaurant more than a decade ago, said the economic recession was the main reason for the closure. “We kept on being optimistic,” he said in an interview Monday, but business began to falter in 2008, particularly with the dinner crowd. “Volumes just went down for everybody, and they did for us, too,” he said. Lunch business rebounded, but dinner service steadily slipped, he said. “The sad part is the employees,” McCabe said, noting that the average tenure was six and a half years, creating a family feel. McCabe thanked an “extraordinarily loyal customer base.” “Many of you have been with us for over 10 years,” the online message stated. “Some of you have been weekly or even more frequent guests since the day we opened. You have become our friends. We know you by name and what you like to order without your even saying it.” The online message summed up the situation of trying to maintain a business in a 4,000-square-foot space: “Since the economic downturn in 2008, our revenues have never recov-
ered enough to keep us going. We have postponed this decision for as long as we could, but we have now reached the point where it is no longer financially viable for us to keep going.” Based on the model of offering “fast, casual, delicious, healthy food,” the cafe opened in 2001, under the name “O’Naturals,” in Falmouth. In 2010, the name was changed to “Stonyfield Café.” An O’Naturals cafe on Exchange Street in Portland closed in the summer of 2009. McCabe said Stonyfield Cafe has a “licensing arrangement” with Stonyfield Farm in Londonderry, N.H., an organic dairy business which cites $360 million in annual sales, but no other legal connection.
Slainte owner says he hopes to revive Gogi Nearly a year after launching the Arts District Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant, Gogi, Ian Farnsworth witnessed its abrupt closure by his former business partner, but he said Monday he’s committed to reviving the concept somewhere in Portland. Farnsworth said he sold his interest in Gogi Restaurant to his business partner Hwamin Yi, and that she closed the restaurant, despite his desire to see it continue. “The dream of this type of restaurant is still alive and I am hopeful I can re-open in a different location by the end of 2012,” Farnsworth wrote on Facebook. (Efforts to contact Yi for comment were unsuccessful.) In an interview, Farnsworth, who owns Slainte Wine Bar and Lounge on Preble Street, said he is already scoping locations for a new incarnation of Gogi. “I sold my interest on March 13, and I helped them transition over, and I still helped out with my recipes over there,” he said. Asked if he was committed to bringing Gogi back, Farnsworth said, “Absolutely, probably not in that location but somewhere else in
Bonhoeffer’s life to be celebrated by St. Ansgar Lutheran Church DAILY SUN STAFF REPORT This April 27-29, St. Ansgar Lutheran Church in Portland will be celebrating Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life and exploring his philosophies. Bonhoeffer’s life “was as thrilling as any spy novel or action movie,” the church noted. “The German Lutheran pastor and theologian actively resisted the Nazis during World War II when he joined a military secret service unit to avoid compulsory combat service. He became a double agent and joined a group that attempted to assassinate Hitler. Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and executed by hanging two years later — just a few weeks before the Nazis surrendered to Allied Forces.” The centerpiece of the weekend will be “Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Worldly Christianity: Beyond Evangelical Conservatism and Liberal Mod-
ernism,” a presentation by Clifford Green, the founding president of the International Bonhoeffer Society and a prominent Bonhoeffer scholar. The presentation will be followed by lunch and a panel conversation. All events, including lunch, are free of charge. “Bonhoeffer’s view of the role of Christianity in the secular world has become very influential, and he is considered one of the most significant theologians of the 20th century,” the church continued in a press release. “He called for Christians to be involved in the political life of their nation, that political involvement is a form of neighborly love.” Green will investigate how Bonhoeffer’s theology is relevant today, according to the church. For a complete schedule of events or list of panelists, call 774-8740, email conference2012@saintansgar.org, or go to www.saintansgar.org.
Saturday marked the last day in business for Stonyfield Cafe in Falmouth, which posted notifications to customers on its door. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)
town, because I always believe in the concept. I always believed it could be a big success.” In April 2011, Farnsworth, who is half Irish and half Scottish, told The Portland Daily Sun he had been considering a Mexican-Korean fusion restaurant as his second culinary adventure in Portland. Gogi was his answer for an Arts District late-night venue. Both eateries boasted late-hour dining and intriguing names. “Slainte”
(pronounced slawn-cha) means “to good health” in Gaelic. “Gogi” is the Korean word for “meat,” he noted. On Monday, Farnsworth said he really enjoyed his involvement with Gogi. “It adds to the Portland food scene,” he said. Gogi was situated in a space once used as a diner, an Italian restaurant, a Mexican burrito outlet and at least two Somalian eateries, he said.