I buy retail late
Sit at a table and write
No one throws me out You may have heard that Jake Hafner has sold his (and my and possibly your) little corner of heaven in Lafayette Square, 33. I’m clearly not writing to break this news but to say a hearty thanks to Jake for all the good times I’ve had and to bestow an open-armed welcome to new owner Jeff Stettner.
Mr. Stettner, I’m sure many regulars have relayed this sentiment already, as they tend to be an outspoken bunch, but for any who haven’t, please allow me: For the love of God, don’t change anything! OK, not anything, doubling the space and filling it with more seats and wine will be nice. Oh, and put a Web site back up, too.
So I talked with Mr. Stettner and am confident that 33 will remain the place to take out-of-town guests if you want to hear them say, “Wow! I wish we had a wine bar like this in [insert big, pretentious city here].”
Mr. Stettner, I’m not afraid to say that I will cry if I am no longer mentioned in the elaborate wine descriptions on the menu, but I won’t love 33 any less.
– Dennis Lowery
Photo by Jonathan S. Pollack
This article appears in Feb 1-28, 2009.