Milly's Restaurant is closed in San Raphael (near SF, CA). Details.
Sophia Hummell
Hello,
I received this email. Thought it would be of general interest since Milly's
was so well known - it was much written about. Of course, it is of most
interest to those in the San Francisco Bay Area . Here it is:
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(From Donna Marie)
Subject: Sad end for Milly's diner
A friend brought this following article into work and I guess it clears up
the mystery over Milly's closing. The real surprise is that Margaret Malone
sold her stock in Millennium and moved to Europe!!!!
Donna
SAD END FOR MILLY'S DINER
by Guy Ashley
Marin Independent Journal
Die-hard diners will tell you Milly's was an exception in the
restaurant world -- a neighborhood enclave that survived trendy tastes with
dedication to healthy, vegetarian cooking.
But Milly's was a San Rafael success story with a sad ending.
After 11 years, the Fourth Street institution has closed for good with
nary a word to the faithful customers who flocked to the restaurant for its
macrobiotic combo plates and smoked tempeh specialties.
According to police Cpl. Harry Barbier, the cause of Milly's demise was
not a return to steak-and-butter sensibilities in Marin.
Barbier and former employees say the restaurant's coffers were looted.
Police are seeking the former bookkeeper, Jeffrey Steinberg, 35, for
questioning in the case.
Barbier said the bookkeeper was interviewed by police in December after
state tax officials indicated Milly's hadn't been paying employees' tax
withholdings.
"He denied any wrongdoing and we didn't have enough to arrest him at
that point," Barbier said.
Now San Rafael police want to talk to Steinberg again.
The closure has devastated vegetarians, who say that Milly's was at the
cutting edge of a 1980s trend toward healthier dining in Marin.
"They had fabulous food anyone could enjoy and they had a consciousness
about low-fat healthy cuisine before other restaurants even considered such
a thing," said Patti Breitman of Fairfax, founder of Vegetarians in Marin.
Former employees say as much as $120,000 was discovered missing at
Milly's in January. Police, who have been told that Steinberg left the
country, are seeking a warrant for his arrest.
Following the thefts, restaurant owner Margaret Malone, indicated she
was determined to carry on. She even posted a notice outside the restaurant
announcing a "new era of dining" at Milly's with a renewed focus on western
and central American cuisine.
But in late May, Malone had a change of heart. According to pastry
chef Catherine Burke, Malone gave her employees a week to find new jobs.
She closed Milly's on May 28 and sold her stock in Millennium, the San
Francisco restaurant she opened with several partners. Then she moved to
Europe.
"Milly's didn't have to close," Burke said. "We had a strong local
clientele and most of us were determined to turn things around."
"But Margaret didn't see it that way and, since she was the owner,
there wasn't a whole lot the rest of us could do."
The closure is a sad ending to story that began in 1983 as the spirited
enterprise of two brothers, Dennis and Brian Malone. Dennis Malone, chef at
Milly's until he left the restaurant in 1993, said the two brothers were
inspired to open a "heart healthy" restaurant because of their father's
heart bypass.
"I was still eating steak and pork tenderloin, and watching my
cholesterol go up," Dennis Malone said. "I realized I would end up in the
same place as my father -- in the bypass surgery room."
The two brothers took a decaying antique shop and transformed it in a
state-of-the-art restaurant. They operated Milly's for several years before
Brian Malone left for another business venture.
Dennis Malone said the mission of Milly's was to serve robust,
sometimes exotic, dinners without using meat and dairy products. "It wasn't
the old-style hippy vegetarian restaurant, " he said. "We started taking
the butter and cream out of the food so it was lighter and more health
supporting," Dennis Malone said.
Steinberg was hired by Margaret Malone in late 1993, about the time
Dennis Malone left the restaurant.
_______________________________________________________________________
Addendum from Donna.........
Dennis Malone, Margaret's ex-husband, started Vitto's in 1994, later renamed
Atlas, an excellent vegetarian restaurant adjacent to Livings Foods on
University in Berkeley. After a few months that, too, is closed.
