Get it while it lasts, folks.  The final curtain call for The Hidden Kitchen in its current incarnation at the Rooster Cafe will be February 20th.  

Dr. Jeff Dobkin, one of the principals behind the project, wrote the following entry on their blog yesterday:

Next Phase

As those of you who have dined with us know, our current situation/location was/is only temporary.  We continue to search for a space that we can call our own, one where we can flex our creative muscle a bit more (but not too much!): a few more options for dishes, lots more wine, etc.  To this end, we have decided that February 20th will be the final day of service for The Hidden Kitchen at The Rooster Cafe.  Keep coming back until then and make sure that we have your emails addresses, etc. so that we can get you info about our permanent location. 

We have had a blast and thanks to Jack at the Rooster for his willingness to share space.  We look forward to better, but not necessarily bigger, things.

Ciao

Jeff

So there you have it: there's not much time.  And when you consider that it's only open for dinners Thursdays and Fridays, that means you have a total of 14 days to act.

Hopefully the foursome (Jeff, Julie, Jason and Holly) will transition to their own place soon after.

If you still don't have any idea what I'm talking about, read my full review HERE, and then get a reservation already!!!

The revolving door of eateries continues.  According to the Capistrano Dispatch, the space that the recently departed Rendezvous occupied in San Juan Capistrano's train depot is being developed by the people behind Gemmell's of Dana Point.

In the smoothie game, if Jamba Juice can't shake it, then how can anyone else. The giant posted a $12.4M loss last quarter. So I suppose it should come as no surprise that the smaller players are being pulverized like fruit in a blender.

Just recently I noticed that two smoothie purveyors in Irvine disappeared. Maui Wowi on Main St. and also Tropical Smoothie Cafe on Barranca are gone. I only got to try Tropical Smoothie Cafe once. And they were good. Even had a sandwich there. But Maui Wowi got away from me before I had a chance. I can't say for sure, but I don't think Maui Wowi had been around for that long -- maybe a year?

Those who are loyal to Tropical Smoothie Cafe can still find one in Fullerton. Also, there still seems to be a few Maui Wowi's lying around in odd places, according to the corporate website.

Me? I prefer to eat my calories, not drink them.

Yet another restaurant slips into history while another begins to write its own. Ferdussi Taste of Persia -- the Santa Ana institution that proudly wore its Best of OC badge from OC Weekly on its door -- closed a few months ago. Now open in its place, is a new Mexican place called La Terraza.

I haven't tried La Terraza, but I will miss Ferdussi.

One interesting tidbit: The OC Weekly sticker is still there.

When reader and friend of the blog, NP, tipped me off that Beard Papa's in Santa Ana's MainPlace Mall closed up, my heart sank. He writes, "the Beard Papa's in Main Place is now closed! Unless they moved somewhere I couldn't see... The location was boarded up with Westfield signage."

This after we voted them "Best Dessert" in our recent Best of 2008 Issue.

So I went and checked the vitals on the other location, inside Costa Mesa's Marukai Market. And I'm relieved to say that it's still in business.

Phew!

So, I still have a place to occasionally indulge on the dessert that will surely do other things to my own vital signs someday.

For as long as I can remember, there has always been a Peruvian food stall at the Main Street Food Court in Irvine. It was called Lima City for years, though it changed hands at least twice during its tenure.

Then Peruvian Kitchen took it over sometime this past summer, moving out of its spacious Fountain Valley digs to Lima City's cramped quarters. In the meantime, the old space it vacated became Casa Inka, which I reviewed.

Now it appears that Peruvian Kitchen has folded. Our intrepid friend, Wonginator, reports:

Just an update that when I dropped by the food court today (Nov. 12, 2008), Peruvian Kitchen was closed during the lunch period. I think they might be shut down for good because they had been open for lunch time during previous visits.

There rarely was ever a line when I visited this food court location, and I think their higher prices scared away the regular food court visitors.

UPDATE:  Wonginator has reported that Peruvian Kitchen is still OPEN and STILL NEEDS YOUR BUSINESS!!

Both Sumo Seafood & Sushi Buffet locations, in Irvine (on Culver & the 5) and Santa Ana (on MacArthur near Bristol), have been shuttered.

Although I was never a fan of either one (though quite honestly, I belong to the camp that believes in avoiding "sushi" when it's coupled with the word "buffet"), it is still a sad sign of the times.

I peeked inside and saw a geisha mannequin, staring into the darkened store, almost as if she's saying "Sayonara" to Sumo, which has been pushed out of the ring for good...

...And caused this food blogger to use one too many metaphors.

According to a story in the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Sophy's -- the popular Cambodian restaurant on Long Beach's Anaheim street -- is moving to a new location not because they wanted to, but because their landlord refused to renew the lease.

So they upped and got a new lease at a better location, with more parking about six or seven blocks away.

Friday, October 31st was their last night at their old place, and simultaneously the first one at their new place at 3240 E. Pacific Coast Highway.

Genki Living in Irvine, the Japanese crepe joint that was actually owned by Taiwanese, has closed.

It started offering their crepes, both savory (ham and cheese) and sweet (Nutella and banana), sometime around two years ago. I liked their takoyaki, in all their octopusiness. And they also made two kinds of okonomiyaki there.

But truth be told, the last time I actually ate something there was...sometime around two years ago.

Now the only Genki Living left in O.C. is the one in Garden Grove.

Spent the weekend hawking books at the Anaheim Historical Society's biannual home tour. There, many folks told me the bad news: Cafe Contigo, located just down the street from Anaheim City Hall, is no more.

I reviewed it late last year, just a couple of weeks after it opened, and made it my place to meet Anaheim sources. They drank coffee, Cuban-approved by Weekly editor Ted Kissell (who spent years in south Florida and therefore knows his media noches from ropa viejas), while I munched on delicious sandwiches and pastries shipped in from the famous Porto's Bakery in Glendale. WiFi, indoor fountain, gorgeous pictures of pre-Castro Cuba--Cafe Contigo was too beautiful for our Cuban-bereft county.

The closing of Cafe Contigo shows again that OC's Cuban cuisine scene is lacking. Raffi's in Tustin closed years ago, and Habana Cabana in Huntington Beach pales to the Cuban restaurant that preceded it (haven't tried the Cuban place in Brea, though). Worst of all, the legendary Felix's Continental Cafe on the Orange Circle is now good only for the view, pastel de tres leches, and their weird, relishy salsa--everything else has sunken in quality since the founder passed away a couple of years ago. So sad...

You've heard the grim statistic: Nine out of ten new restaurants close after one year. There are some who question whether it is true, so far as to call it a myth. The figure is closer to one out of four, these experts say.

But these days, with established pros like David Wilhelm floundering, the first figure doesn't seem so far fetched.

Fury, which was until recently a night club and sushi joint a few blocks away from John Wayne Airport, has shuttered. What was it like? I couldn't tell you. The closest I came to trying it was when I walked up to the door when they weren't open to check out their menu, which was posted outside. From what I read, it featured the usual assortment of rolls.

Though I can't recollect when the place actually opened, it didn't seem longer than a year ago.

In its place, a new restaurant and lounge called Code is planned. My source, who still wants to remain anonymous, provided the picture and noted that the location is notorious for turnover. Before Fury, it was Hamburger Mary's.

But here's what I'm hoping for what with that name: a restaurant and club aimed at computer geeks. Think about it. That area of MacArthur is full of tech companies, and as such, software engineers and programmers. What's a better recipe for success than to cater to the segment of the population that still has jobs (at the moment)?

It happened so slowly it seemed unnoticeable, but as one food stall after another called it quits, the writing on the wall became more obvious: Cafe Court was dying.

If your office wasn't nearby -- like say within the area bordered by Redhill, Alton, Jamboree and Barranca -- you probably didn't realize a food court was even there (behind the Sam's Club on Von Karman and Barranca).

Neither did I. And when I did, I wasn't initially impressed. Here's what I said about in a blog post dated August 5, 2005:

"Regretfully, a while ago, I tried food from an Indian stall there. Their chicken tikka masala, which looked like vomit, also tasted like it. I also think that it was their saag paneer which gave me food poisoning that night. Fortunately, the Indian place has gone out of business since then, but unfortunately I have a feeling that an equally horrid replacement is on the way."

But then I discovered Zesty Thai, which quickly became my favorite place to get pad see ew, made to order in minutes by a warm Thai mother. It was the best, smokiest pad see ew I've ever had before or since. I was there twice a week, sometimes three. That is, until the original owners sold it to a new family. It never was the same after that. So I stopped coming.

By the time I revisted Cafe Court, about a month ago, there were two stalls left. Zesty Thai was long gone. All that remained was a Chinese take-out joint called Teriyaki Inn (yeah, I know) and the other...well, I can't even remember. The rest was shuttered up like a self-storage yard in a deserted, post-apocalyptic ghost town.

I heard that the place finally bit the dust last week. So I came back once more to pay my respects and take a few photos for this eulogy.

So, rest in peace Cafe Court: I can't say I'll miss you, but I will remember the pad see ew.