to moving in together, showing off the engagement ring, bragging about the wedding, bringing in 'the bump', bringing in the baby (and the owner happily taking baby out the back into the kitchen to show her off to the chefs- then insisting on 'babysitting' her whilst we ate..... moved North -- moving back and found a sign on the door.... our favourite restaurant and waitstaff had closed up shop the week before. Permanently. It stung.... I still trawl the internet looking for the owner to see if she's set up shop elsewhere.... That is sad! I guess I can understand him not saying anything -- in the commercial realms of business, you can't afford to lose customers before a sale goes through. But it's a shame you've lost touch with a friend, though it's entirely possibly you'll find him again one day -- much as we did Tony at La Casa. I do understand though -- we have a similar relationship with our local shopkeepers and also our suppliers at the markets, and we'd be very sad if any of them moved on! It is so true. We used to live inner city (pre kids) and even then it was a big part of our lives. We would frequent the same cafe, every Sunday for breakfast and a lazy morning drinking coffee, making life plans and reading the paper. We knew the cafe owners by name, they knew us and exactly what we would order. They knew what our holiday