This pic was taken in early October of 2001, so even though I wrote the following after it closed, and I'm posting it in 2013, I'm still backdating this post to 2001.
This was our go-to place for the first few years it was open. Birthday, holiday, just-for-the-heck-of-it, this is the place we wanted to go when we wanted to spend a little bit more but still get value for our money.
It started with so much promise; they had an open kitchen so you could watch the chefs work (very uncommon at the time), the Galleria was newly renovated and buzzing, the food was comfortably familiar but different enough to be exciting. They had cooking classes, which I eternally regret not attending.
This is the place where I learned that flaky white fish could be moist and succulent, where creme brulee was my favorite desert, where even the idea of having a favorite restaurant made sense. The head waitress knew us and always made sure to put us in her direct care; the owner was around but not obtrusive. This place was like having a rich sophisticated aunt to visit, who made you feel comfortable and taken care of, but left you to your own devices.
I wish the place burned down, or was struck by a meteor, or any other calamity where no one got hurt. A quick and final death would have been kind, instead of the long slow lingering death spiral it went through. I have never put this much effort into a simple restaurant review, because in this case I feel like a lost a good friend, and not through any specific tragedy, but through years of neglect and carelessness.
They lost that awesome head waitress along the way, an omen of foreboding. The owner didn't seem to be much of a presence any more. The tightly run kitchen team disintegrated, I can only imagine the head chef left at some point. The soul drifted away from the place, and I'm still sad about it. I only know what I saw for myself, I'm not sure why they really circled the bowl and ultimately closed, but it didn't have to happen. They had it, it was theirs to lose, and they lost it.
[additional note from 2013.01.09]
I found another pic from 2001:
The story of 2 Senza is why I like watching shows like Kitchen Nightmares; it gives me hope that some can be saved.
