La Contessa closing?

[unbelman.livejournal.com]

I've heard that La Contessa is closing and turing into a Sushi place

confirm or deny?

Comments

[spatch]

It can't. The Pope blessed the place, for crying out loud. He will have to swoop back from beyond with his Pope Powers and drive out the interlopers!

Good sushi can be had just up on Mass. Ave in North Cambridge. Good cannoli, uh, cannot.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

Lyndell's Bakery in Ball Square makes decent cannoli.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I love Lyndell's, myself. Probably more than La Contessa. Give it a try!

[nhradar.livejournal.com]

Someone, please find out. I may not move back from england if this is true. The North End is waaaaaaay too far away.

[ron_newman]

Oh no, I hope that isn't true. I'll try to stop in today and ask.

[unbelman.livejournal.com]

Thought I should post where I read it:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/384735

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

This would be so sad. La Contessa has so much character and the people there are so nice. Not to mention... I think life it so much nicer when there's a bakery nearby.

A few months ago I had to be interviewed for a documentary and the film makers wanted to do this in a coffee shop in Davis Square. We first went to a certain well-known area coffee shop and they said we could couldn't do it there even though it just involved one small handheld camera. So we went to La Contessa and they were unbelievably nice and supportive about letting us film there! They even moved stuff around for us and turned down their music and so forth. It made such a great backdrop for the interview too! :)

[opn.livejournal.com]

I'm curious...was the well-known area coffee shop the non-chain one on Elm? I ask because my friends and I were meeting there for a "fashion" breakfast regularly (to eat and take pictures of each other to post online on LJ) and we were stopped from taking photos.

[ron_newman]

I go to La Contessa 4 to 8 times a month. I would go to a sushi joint ... never. So this would be a great loss.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm in the minority. I would eat sushi constantly in Davis. I was hoping for one of the pizza places to close down to make room for it, but what will be will be.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

You know about Yoshi's up in Powderhouse and the place in Teal, ja?

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

hey, let me know what you discover about sushi around here- i also love it. i usually go to hana on mass ave, it's good, but their sashimi is not super fresh so i want to keep looking around. bluefin in porter is cheap, decent, but again not super fresh.

i haven't tried yoshi or wherever in teale square.

i've also heard sei bar in medford is pretty good.

i think all these places deliver.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Or one of the burrito/wrap places, which seem to be breeding like bunnies.

Good sushi right in the square would be nice; I know Yoshi's is close, but I've never been impressed with either their service or quality (and I'm pretty far from a sushi snob).

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

Confirm: I was just in there and asked the owner about it. She said the landlord refused to give her another lease after her 10 year lease ends at the end of April, and she wasn't willing to go month-by-month.

Interestingly, this is also why Enterprise left their Davis location. I wonder if it's the same landlord?

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

So are they moving to another location or just folding it up?

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure it's not the same landlord.

Man -- that's so sad to hear that they basically got pushed out.

[ron_newman]

I thought Annette's family owned the shop? In any event, she told me she was closing at the end of April (not Easter). She said that "yuppies don't buy Italian pastries" and that "all the Italians have moved out". She has stopped selling coffee because she doesn't want to pay sales tax. I don't understand this, since she is supposed to collect the tax from us, not pay it herself.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

That's very sad. I liked the old-school character it added to Davis. I live around the corner from Lyndell's so I usually go there, but I've occasionally bought things at Contessa. I don't like sushi, so I'm really sorry to see it go.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

There's a fair amount of paperwork and aggravation associated with collecting sales tax, though I'd think for complementary sales it would be worth it.

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

This is the worst thing ever. I was just saying the other day that the end of La Contessa would be the end of Davis Square. What's next, McKinnon's?

You know, first I lived in Harvard Square, then I lived in Cambridgeport, and then Inman Square, and finally Davis. One by one they each have fallen. I now practically have panic attacks when I visit Harvard Square, it's so oppressive and awful. Is that how Davis Square will be? In my dreams of buying a place to live, Davis Square figures prominently, but I don't see how that can ever be, if it turns into Harvard Square.

[ron_newman]

what's wrong with Cambridgeport and Inman Square?

unfortunate truths

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

Obviously they knew this was coming, whether it be from the landlords actions or there own to just get out of the business. There is a site/newsletter that restaurant/bar owners advertise on when they want to sell there business/property and Lacontessa had been listed on there for a while for sale as a 50 year old family bakery. Rumor has it( and 1 davis sq should hint to it) that some building owners want to tear down and build biggger newer buildings. The Burren/Family $$$ building on down is owned by the same owner I believe.

union square is next

[elibeck.livejournal.com]

The whole arts-overlay district and green-line extension are fantastic... but without rent control, the effect will be to:

1. Make Union Square the place-to-be
2. Drive up rents
3. Get rid of "blight" and "clean up" the square.
4. Bring in higher-end businesses
5. Price out long-time residents and the artists
6. Price out long-time businesses
7. Make Union Square hella lame a la Harvard Square

Sadly I think Davis Square is near the end-stages of this same game.
I don't think it's inevitable, but it is if people don't challenge it.

[petula73.livejournal.com]

They did not get pushed out, they had their rent raised by just a few hundred dollars from what i hear. That was in the span of like 10 years.

They just were not making any money and Felix just had a baby. I think he decided it was time to make some money for his family.