My favorite day each year is the day that Yoko Ono takes out a full page ad in the New York TImes invoking the Lennon legacy- lines from “Imagine”, an art doodle or a poem.  This ad came out last Sunday and me, the weepy female that I can be,  shed a few solemn tears.  The ad said “War is over.”   Whether or not this is the case in a broad sense, it makes me pause and reflect on the last year and the struggles- personal and universal most of us faced in 2009.  Isn’t this what the new year and resolutions are all about anyhow?

2009 was an especially hard year for many folks- the economy directed the traffic of our lives.  Doesn’t it seem that we are getting a bit better?  Either that or we are just a bit more leathery for the wear, I can’t be sure.  But we are here, we are standing, we are inspired.  Restaurants are opening- this is a good sign.  Did you know that restaurants typically generate a profit of around one percent?  No one opens these things for the big bucks.  I opened Kir because it is what I do.

Some years ago I was in Paris with a friend walking around Mont Martre in the rain and had a classic french moment ducking into a little bistro called  Des Parte des Ange (which is a wine term meaning the tear of the angels, or the first small press of juice that escapes when a grape is crushed).  This tiny cafe about the size of Kir was run mom and pop style- one cooked while the other worked the floor.  The food, the wine, the moment… so perfect.  Moments like those brought me here.

Tonight Kir will be closed , but as we celebrate the new year I will think of all of the moments of 2009 of which you all have been a part.  We are going over to our good friend’s house to sit by the fire and I will bring a bottle of Mari ripasso wine from the Venato region of Italy (as it was decided by a new food friend of mine and I that ripassos are the best red wines of Venato.)  Ask me how this was decided next time you are in!  As we enjoy this lovely wine I will toast you all and my good fortune to still be standing.

Best wishes for the new year from  Amalie and the Kir Cru.  Come see us soon.

Posted in: From Amalie