Cafe Etoile Burns Out

Tip your Bordeaux to Café Etoile, as this West Wash Park spot has been added to the growing list of restaurant casualties. Etoile, which opened in April next to the infamous Candlelight Tavern at 375 South Pearl Street, specialized in crepes, paninis and treating patrons like family.

Server Emmy Hewitt made a point of learning the names of almost all of the patrons, and the owners even hosted a special Thanksgiving meal for some guys who worked at the nearby Royal Crest dairy.

In good times, Etoile would have gotten the chance to become a bustling neighborhood place where locals could gather to eat sandwiches, drink coffee and play Scrabble. But these are not good times, and instead, it closed its doors in January.

In today's world, places like Etoile fade away all too easily.