Good Times, Tough Times For Local Restaurants

Several years ago, the owner of the shopping center that housed Corbet’s Ace Hardware for 54 years, told the Corbets he was going to sell the property.

Since then the popular hardware store has moved farther down Magnolia Avenue, leaving the space empty.

How has that affected nearby businesses?

Suzanne McGoldrick, owner of Table Café since 2004, says the loss of an anchor tenant like Corbet’s has not been good.

“People would shop there and then stop by here,” she explains. “The shopping center used to be called 'Where Corbet’s is,' now it’s 'the dead zone.' ”

But McGoldrick is not sitting on her great reviews for her delicious dosai.

“I’m going to begin selling my gluten-free dosai to supermarkets,” she said.

Not everyone in the shopping center is feeling the loss of Corbet's as far as their bottom line. Josh Harris, co-owner of Rustic Bakery, said, "We're doing great, but we do miss Corbet's."

• The Times of India reported Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines have ordered food imports from Japan to be tested for radiation. While CBS News reported that Italy has gone a step further and banned Japanese food imports.

At Fukusuke, Chef Warren and his mother Hitomi Nakasu moved their Sausalito restaurant to Larkspur more than five years ago. It’s located at 578 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur.

More important than food at the moment is the concern his mother has for the relatives of her minister from San Francisco’s Church of Perfect Liberty. Her minister, Reverend Kano and his wife are from Sendai. His family is safe, but the whereabouts of her family is unknown.

Getting back to food, I asked Chef Warren Nakasu if he has any concerns about products coming from Japan.

“We don’t know yet; we’re wondering,” Nakasu said.

He’s asked his suppliers, Japan Food Corporation of South San Francisco and Nishimoto Trading Company of Brisbane, but representatives of both companies don’t know yet about the status of imported food.

• Director Larry Mindel, of the Corte Madera-based Il Fornaio group, called me to tell me of a great victory that his Poggio Restaurant, in Sausalito, recently won against his landlord, the Casa Madrona in Marin Superior Court.

When the new owners took over the Inn, they gave Mindel an eviction notice alleging many things that turned out to be false, according to the court case.

It turned out that Poggio was paying bills and expenses for the financially-troubled former owner, in lieu of rent, and continued to, after the new owners took over.

Poggio won all four points of the case.

Here’s what a jubilant Mindel said to me in an email: “I thought you might be interested in the favorable decision rendered Friday in the matter of the Casa Madrona Hotel v. Poggio. This battle has been going on for a long time and I am both relieved and pleased that the resolution is so favorable."

Happily for diners who love Poggio, there are 19 years left on Poggio’s lease.