- The multi-tasking Gina Miller.
Yesterday my favorite sports chick, Gina Miller, twittered this tweet: “another legend leaving: cafe pacific is losing lease @ highland park village & the mercury is going in its spot. major bummer.”
I called Café Pacific owner Jack Knox. Dang, no answer. So I called the Pope of Highland Park Village, Ray Washburne. Double dang, straight to voicemail. A little later a gentle ping from my computer. Hark! An e-mail from Knox, who is probably the nicest guy in the restaurant business.
“Sorry I missed your call. I was in the back yard with Wal-Mart and Woodrow, the apparent owners of the place where I live. I hear the [rumor], or a version of it, about every forty eight hours. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on the part of our competitors, or maybe it’s just a good conversation starter. Last Saturday at our monthly front of the house meeting, just to make sure that everyone was on the same page, I explained to all the CP staff that we have a lease that is valid, in place, unchallenged, and very comfortable for both our landlord and me that runs to July 15, 2015. I think that the usual renewal option will be forthcoming in time, it’s mainly a matter of terms.”
Minutes later, the Pope, I mean Ray Washburne, calls. “My plane just landed,” he says. “I’ve been in Las Vegas at the International Shopping Center Convention. Hey, Jack’s not going anywhere. He has a lease until 2015.”
Dishers, can officially shut down the Café Pacific rumor for a few months and go back to our regularly scheduled hot rumor. Like In-N-Out Burger is coming to Dallas. Hah! That’s always a good one. Huh? It’s true? What in the hell are we going to talk about now? Leave a rumor after the beep.
