present at the creation -- and the end

We have all experienced it.

That bittersweet experience, redolent of almonds, when finishing the final chapter of a well-written novel. Wishing that there was more, but satisfied with what was written as being inevitable -- and sufficient.

That is exactly how I felt on Friday evening. After 21 years of plating up thousands of meals and providing a space where diners from around the world could enjoy the sybaritic pleasures of friendship, Rooster's and Papa Gallo's were closing. Permanently.

It was my last supper. At least, there.

The sweet part of the evening was doing exactly what made both Rooster's and Papa Gallo's such popular restaurants. I shared the evening with a group of friends. Not only with stories of past experiences at the restaurants, though there were those. But primarily tales of the day at hand and our hopes and dreams for the future.

I suspect the bitter part might be that I would no longer have the type of experiences I had enjoyed since I moved here. At least, not at Papa Gallo's. But everything dies. And our lives move on -- until we too meet our inevitable ends. Just like the restaurants.

But, until then, there are adventures to be experienced. And there will also be some reminiscences where we nostalgically recall nights like the one pictured above.

When we will smile and tell Joyce and Gary Pittman, restaurateurs extraordinaire, thanks for the memories.