First off, I'll really miss Astoria (423 Elmwood). We never had enough time to prepare; with a shady hasty announcement (two days prior) to staff and patrons that their last day was New Years Eve, I managed to get in for the final supper and spend that last moment with the best cajun-grilled porkchops I've ever had. days later the paper was up and word that a French Bistro called Tabree was going to replace it. However, a "swift transition" it has not been. Its been almost month, and I've seen the lights on plenty of times, moving shadows cast against the privacy paper, but never enough to get a good glimpse of progress. Till now. An accidental (maybe?) gash in the paper granted me a peek and a few photos, including one of the renovation plans..

• It seems they managed to rip up all the old booths and cleared out the partition to the kitchen. On the far right side a bar will go, and the front facing kitchen door will be relocated to the adjacent side. From what it looks like, there will be 27 indoor dining seats, bar included, with the front window areas converted to booths. Patrons of Astoria will notice that the center dividing booth will be rebuilt, extended, and split up into two tables of four and one two seater by the wall

[would you like a larger peak? click above to embiggen]

Aside from the bar in the main dining area, and the new booths, there doesn't look to be too much more change from the original set up. I have no idea what a French bistro will offer, but they have a bar so I'm all for it. I just hope they can hurry it up. Though I'm excited for a new place to eat on Elmwood, I know Tabree won't be anything like Astoria. It was Lolo and Dimmer, Chris and Goldpenny that made Astoria memorable, not to mention the incredible food. So many good times were had. I even met Angel for the first time in the back kitchen; I have Astoria to thank for helping me cultivate some of my best friends on the block. Oh well, here's to new memories and some good food, eh?

• Update: I heard in a roundabout way that the owners plan to open in April, which is a lot longer time than even I expected. However, I also heard of some very interesting plans to create a giant waterfall in the patio area.