(Vic in his usual seat with the Award-Winning Smokey Saint burger, cut in half to take home part. The shirt is the official jersey of the South Australia Wombat Aussie Rules Football consortium. Photo by Martin the Bartender. Tracy said she is going to let him take his barstool with him when the place closes).

I don’t normally order dinner when I go to Willow. I could get as big as a house if I did, but the situation being what it is, we have all decided to go with the “What the hell” approach. Apres nous les deluge, you know?

In view of the pool being open and Liz-with-an-S putting in a guest appearance behind the bar to reprise the role she played for three years, we decided to put the trip to the farm on hold and make a rare Saturday appearance.

The skies had been weeping all day, but things finally dried up in the late afternoon and I got my hour’s swim completed before I headed over. The replacement guard is probably Polish- I don’t know he is a tall fellow with eyes so blue as to be almost luminous. His presence on the pool deck- and the fact that I was the only one there- made the usual exercise a little surreal.

Old Jim and Chanteuse Mary were already at their places- Willow doesn’t open until five thirty on Saturdays for the evening dinner trade,-and Liz-S was in basic black behind the bar. So was heather, since with the news spreading across the area that this precious community resource is going to be shuttered next Saturday, the bar has been packed. Friday night it was four deep, and it behooved us to get there early.

Jon-without and John-with both arrived as the place filled up with an air of energy tinged with a soupçon of sadness.

Kate Jansen, co-owner, came down to chat and we talked about getting a couple dozen of her kemmelweck rolls dusted with sea-salt and fennel when she does the last big batch for Buffalo Night this coming Friday. It is hard not to take this all personally- but Willow is going out in style. They even hosted a patio party to benefit disadvantaged kids, and the staff all contributed time and attention.

They are all part of a real class act.

I decided that I was going to dine on something I had been wanting to try since the Willow won the annual Burger Bash for the best slider in town. On the menu was the full-sized version of the Smokey Saint slider, complete with hand cut fries. I normally eschew the bun and potatoes in the interest of keeping the carbs at bay, but what the hell.

Jim decided on the lobster ravioli, Mary got a nice salad and Jon-without decided to go with the Ne York Strip. Word was that the line chef on the meat station had quit abruptly to pursue other opportunities, and it was Tracy O’Grady herself who was doing the entrée cooking. This was the night to have some perfectly cooked beef.

There were some interesting thrill seekers along the bar, sampling everything that is still on the menu: the cheese tater tots, the Smokey Saint, Fish and Chips and Pollyface Farm Deviled eggs and crispy mini-egg rolls. We put our orders in at the third drink, and when the food arrived, it was superb. Like it could be any other way.

I can’t say enough about the burger. It was unreal, tender and juicy, with the melted English cheddar cheese and mushrooms. and I cleverly had mine cut in half to have for dinner on Sunday. God, I am going to miss the place. And the people.

Six more days to enjoy it, and trust me, we will. Friday I am going to take a cab, though, just in case there is too much of a good thing.

Copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303