Push the door! If that doesn’t work, Pull! If that doesn’t work, we must be closed.
Eureka Springs said goodbye to a favorite eatery last Tuesday as chef-owner Ann Naumann and her staff at Sweet & Savory Café served their final table just before 11 a.m. on August 23 and ceased doing business.
After three years on the market, an offer to purchase the building had been made and accepted just 11 days earlier. Now facing an August closing, the Café made an announcement on Facebook giving fans of their food a last opportunity to dine with them and giving long-time staff a short time to adjust to leaving.
The plan was to stay open until regular closing time on the 23rd, but after a wild food service on the previous day, a Monday, there was no lunch food left for Tuesday.
“We were running out of everything with a full dining room,” Naumann said, “but people didn’t even care. They just wanted to eat here one last time and were happy with whatever substitutions we made. I didn’t even recognize what dishes we were putting out because they didn’t match anything on the menu. It was hard but we got through it thanks to loyal locals.”
The waitstaff had hustled enough to get blisters from all the walking, and an exhausted Naumann wanted to call it quits after that crazy Monday in the kitchen; but someone talked her into using up the remaining breakfast food and opening on the last day as announced for their customers’ sake.
Tuesday was as emotional for staff as Monday had been exhausting. With time to rest overnight, the reality of “we’re closing for good” sank in hard. Servers giving customers that news with cheerful faces sometimes turned away holding back tears until they could get to the kitchen to shed them and re-emerge smiling once again.
As it got closer to the end of service, food portions got larger and larger. Then finally, it was over. Customers who arrived after the last breakfast had been served looked shocked to be met at the door with “I’m sorry, we’re closed for good.”
It was a bittersweet day.
Chef Naumann kept cooking and served a good breakfast for staff as they gathered in the dining room to compare notes and ponder a new reality. The rest of the week would be spent cleaning up and clearing out.
Although missing their work and the friends they’ve made through Sweet & Savory, its now-former employees are sincerely happy that Naumann is finally able to retire. Some have been with her almost from the day she made up her own menus and opened Sweet & Savory in 2014 after working 16 years at Local Flavor.
Most of her staff will take a week or so of rest before looking for another job. Naumann is just happy to be retired but did admit, “I just have to rest for the winter, but maybe in spring I’ll do something. I might work somewhere, but I’m not going to open anything else.”
Naumann said the Sweet & Savory Facebook page will remain online for a while for patron comments and any news from S&S staff.
What they each want former customers to hear from them now, however, is a heartfelt, “Thank you for your support over the years. We enjoyed it as much as you did!”