Last night I had dinner with three friends that I don't get to see as often as I used to when we all worked at the same place. The restaurant we had dinner in used to be the restaurant where all of us met and became friends at, The Inn at Turner's Mill. Those of us who worked there referred to it as, "The Mill", and it was a very special place that was owned by the nicest people anyone could work for in a restaurant - probably the nicest people one could work for in just about any environment.
The Mill closed its doors nearly two and a half years ago, after nearly eighteen years in business. I always said that whether I worked there or not, I never wanted to see that place go away - nor would I want to see anyone else running it. From the first time I walked into the place to respond to an ad for bartenders, I felt like I was in a very special place, a place that was unlike any other restaurant I'd worked in or eaten in. I had no way of knowing at that time just how special the place actually was and would become to me, and to so many others who worked there or frequented the place as patrons.
After the Mill closed, there was a lot of speculation as to what the place would become once the building sold. I heard so many different stories that I just quit listening. Once the official word got out about what was actually going to become of the place so many of us missed, like anyone else, I wondered if the new restaurant would have any of the things that made the Mill such an incredible place. I guess I thought that maybe, just maybe the new owners might want to keep a few things that made The Mill the comfortable and warm place it was. The thing is, The Mill wasn't just a place to go eat, or drink. It was a place that was warm, familiar, comfortable, soothing...any number of favorable descriptives. There was also live music and, as one regular put it, "Hamburgers from God."
Actually, the hamburger description is pretty accurate if you ask me - but there were a lot of things that seemed heavenly if we're going to talk about food from The Mill. The menu changed almost entirely with every season and there was always something on the new menu to get excited about. The Mill made me the foodie that I am today, and I know I'm not the only person who either worked there or frequented there who became that way because of the food that chefs like Tom Ward, Shawn Monday, John Kish, Kim Horner and a few others I can't think of at the moment used to make. I didn't know food like that existed until I worked there - but I stole that line from Bill Berry, who used to manage The Mill.
Never mind any of that now, The Mill as we knew it, is gone. The new place is nothing like the place I knew and loved. The new place looks nice, but it's not the place that we knew. I suppose I wanted something about The Inn at Turner's Mill to still stand, even after The Mill closed its doors for good. Given that nothing really does, it's a bit disappointing to see a new place even occupy the same address. I'm not trying to slam the new place, nor the company that owns and runs it, but there was so much about The Mill that was special that I can't help but feel that some of those things would've been worth keeping. My favorite thing about the new place? The outdoor fire pit - what's not to like about an open fire greeting you as you walk into the place on a cold winter night?
Everything else felt a bit like it was built on sacred ground by someone who couldn't have cared less how many good things happened there - people met there, friendships and marriages came out of that place - there was history there and I always felt that you could feel that in The Mill. Although I never saw any evidence of it, it was rumored there was a ghost in the old mill building. If that's true, I think two things: one, that the ghost didn't mind that there was a great restuarant in the place it called home, and two, said ghost is perhaps more than a little unhappy with the current restaurant. Yes the place looks nice - but now it's just another place to eat that is housed/attached to a place that for all practical purposes, is no longer standing.
Having said all that, the high point of the evening was the company I was with. Three former coworkers and one former manager - all of us friends because of the place we all worked at. All of us still enjoying being around one another and wishing at times that we did that as often as we used to. Work-based friendships don't often stand the test of time for many people. Nonetheless, I've become friends with more people that I met at The Inn at Turner's Mill than I have any other place I've worked - and I've stayed friends with them. All in all, it didn't matter where we ate dinner that night. Chris and March had already seen the new place, Bill and I had not. While I'm more than a little disappointed that anyone would totally disregard the wonderful place that used to be, I'm glad that the friendship between Bill, Chris, March and myself is indeed still standing.
