Above: The Clarmont, which closed today after 65 years in business. Photo by R. Gust Smith.
It's with a collective heavy heart that all of us at Jeni's are reading today's news about the closing of the 65-year-old Clarmont—that long-running German Village shrine to no-fuss cocktails, cottage cheese-stuffed honeydew melons, and Saturday morning steak-and-egg breakfasts under dim lights.
Jeni and her husband Charly knew the Clarmont well. Former residents of nearby Merion Village, Jeni and Charly have always had a soft spot for the restaurant, which in recent years had made simple, quiet, and affordable sit-down-and-read-the-paper breakfasts its niche.
The throwback sight of cottage cheese plopped into the scooped-out middle of a melon always made an impression, Jeni says, as did common scenes of local movers and shakers holding breakfast meetings. But the long-term memory she will keep is the day Charly picked her up at home for breakfast—after leaving baby Greta with Jenny, the trusted Clarmont waitress.
"Charly and Greta had been at breakfast and Charly thought I was meeting them there, but we'd gotten our wires crossed," says Jeni. "One of us had probably lost our cell phone or something—who knows?
"So, after 20 minutes of waiting, Charly decided to just had off Greta to Jenny until he came back. He didn't think anything of it and I didn't either when he told me Greta was waiting for us at the Clarmont because who couldn't trust Jenny? There just aren't places like that anywhere anymore."
So, tonight, let's all raise a glass—or a melon stuffed with cottage cheese—and say cheers to the Clarmont. Here's to 65 years of providing people a unique place to eat, drink, and be merry.
This makes me a little sad. I didn't frequent the Clarmont much, but spent a very nice New Year's Eve dinner there with friends as an undergrad at OSU.
Posted by: Renee | January 23, 2012 at 05:40 PM
Oh, that makes me so sad. Another landmark gone.
Posted by: Dania | January 23, 2012 at 06:49 PM
such a doozer that Clarmont is done with. had great memories with my family there :(
Posted by: jess | January 24, 2012 at 01:41 PM