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We just got back from visiting there and thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant and 
it's gluten-free menu!  It was wonderful!  And to find out that it was it's 
second to the last night of being open was extremely disappointing, but , on the 
other hand, I can certainly understand the quandary the owner was in at the 
time.  Running a bakery is tremendous work in itself as well as running a 
restaurant.  I personally don't know how in the world she was able to do both at 
the same time, ever!   As it was explained to me, when Whole Foods decided to 
pick up her line of bakery items, then of course the super-boom exploded in her 
bakery side.  Her business was already heavy and booming on both sides anyway, 
and with the Whole Foods pick-up, a decision had to be made.  And you know, it's 
not like you can tell a nationwide food retailer to wait a few months.  So, I 
can understand her situation.  

And, on the other hand, I can completely understand the disappointment of 
finding your favorite restaurant, and it being a gluten-free safe restaurant besides, closing when you have the summer before you!  
I was just visiting the area and was totally disappointed that such a fantastic 
restaurant and a gluten-free one would no longer be there!  

In Michigan, we had a small little gluten-free cafe that opened and was 
bombarded with people, but then went out of business.  So, we've dealt with this 
before unfortunately.  It's so hard to run a profitable restaurant to begin with  
and then to find a niche but find better areas of profitability elsewhere makes 
me think that maybe having a gluten-free restaurant or chain, which seems a 
great idea to me, might not ever be possible in reality.  The idea of opening a 
gluten-free or allergy friendly restaurant has occurred to me as well, but 
seeing what's happening with these restaurants makes me think about not pursuing 
the matter.  I know that the gf business is growing, but could this niche be 
served well with a gf restaurant/chain and sustain profitability?  Are there 
enough people looking for such a niche restaurant to sustain it?  Although our numbers are growing, 
maybe not enough to sustain this type of niche restaurant.  

Just my thoughts -- Hope you can make it well through the summer without 
Aleia's.   It is sad to see it go.  

Renee'

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