Patti & Steve's
Red Onion Restaurant
an Old Wethersfield favorite
SERVED ITS LAST MEAL
Sat., March 16, 2002

 

The former Patti & Steve's Red Onion Restaurant ROR Busy Outdoors, Summer The Last Menu Board A full house.... ....a full house, too Step-Dancing - celebrating Steve - Dancing too Steve - chatting Perspective? ..Wethersfield.net..   The annoucement issued by Wethersfield.net which preceded this may be read HERE.

Wethersfield, CT -- March 17, 2002, Sunday --   The premature closing of a business is comparable to a death in the family. Sometimes you may see it coming and think you are prepared. Sometimes it leaps upon you and you have no time to prepare yourself. In any case, it is a painful time. Good memories compete with bad. Dreams alive are doused by dreams crushed. You can only hope that you have a family and friends to help see you through the healing yet to come. Patti and Steve Taylor, of Newington, CT, faced the closing of their Red Onion Restaurant with such mixed emotions. The "Red Onion" was next door to Fire House #1, near the heart of Old Wethersfield, CT. 0n Saturday evening, March 16, 2002, a little less than 40 months from the time they opened it, they forced themselves to see it through to the end, not knowing for sure how that end would come, consoling each other or being consoled. In those forty months, the Taylors became a part of that special clan in town, the Old Wethersfield family. This rather egalitarian, mongrel soup of souls has no clear lineage. You are not born to it. You cannot move into it. You cannot join it. One day, you just happen to realize that you ARE part of it. If the Taylors did not realize that they had become "one of the family" before last night, they certainly knew they had before the evening ended. The family Wethersfield, clan "Olde," came to celebrate and console. It was almost fitting that the next day was St. Patrick's Day. What better time to have an Irish wake? No matter that most who came were not clearly Irish, it just felt that way. Neill Walsh, local jeweler and Irish green to the core, buoyed Patti earlier in the day with hints that something special would happen that evening. He was right. The Red Onion and the Taylors had one of the busiest days they ever experienced while serving their customers here. With the exception of some festival days, rarely was there a need for reservations or a long waiting line out the door. There was on Saturday, especially in the evening. By phone, by email and over the 'fence,' word had apparently spread rapidly around town about their untimely closing. "Brisk" would easily understate their business last night! The family was well behaved. Those who waited did so patiently. Those who dined dined comfortably and departed without dallying. Hugs were offered and hugs were accepted. Incredulity dissolved with companionship. Those being served became those who did serve as well wishes were exchanged for the next course. Patti and her small waitstaff were pleasantly distracted from the portent of the evening by their bustling. Steve, never know to remain in the kitchen, popped in and mingled briefly with customers, now friends, several times during the evening. More than a few gave him a good rubbing on his well-shorn pate. Patti still can't believe that he got that buzz-cut - and she doesn't like it. Walsh clan made good on their promise. Announced by Amber George, Gwen Walsh and Vanessa DeNino helped to lift everyone's spirits with a set of lively Irish step-dancing, right in the center of the tiny Red Onion. Steve, the optimist, was so inspired that he took to the floor himself and did his own version of step-dancing (or what that a jig). To walk is to live, to dance is to celebrate. Desserts were exhausted early. The last tablespoon of mustard for the corned beef was extracted from the large jar to satisfy a happy customer. The coffee pot (yes, the returned pot) worked overtime as did the staff the last night. What better way to wind down than with a wine instead of a whine. Steve and Patti Taylor's Red Onion Restaurant will be missed, but they will not be forgotten. Neither will they forget that they are part of Old Wethersfield. When they visit they will be family, not visitors. You can reach Patti & Steve at, naturally, RedOnionRest@aol.com . ADDENDUM: 3/18/2002 -- The owner of the building in which the Patti and Steve's Red Onion Restaurant was located, in the spirit of a true entrepreneur, has obviously arranged for SOMEONE ELSE to take over that space almost immediately. Though the name on the facade remains the same, it is not the same business. Only time will tell if the service and fare will now be comparable to that provided by Patti and Steve. Thus, simply put, what appears to be their Red Onion Restaurant can be euphemistically referred to as "under new management." - W.N -