a Eulogy for Ludwig's (oh, and I almost forgot - our marriage turns 8)

[Photograph courtesy http://www.mitdv.org/events/archives/young_alum]

After attending our second "How to Buy a House" class last Tuesday night, and before I flew to New Orleans for the Costume Society of America's annual Symposium the next morning, B and I decided to go out for beer and maybe some sausage and sauerkraut. It also happened to be the date of our 8-year wedding anniversary, and we were going to be apart for five days while I rubbed shoulders with curators/historians/researchers (and while he scaled rock walls in the Adirondacks), so it seemed a fittingly brief and low-key celebration/send-off.

We decided to head to Ludwig's Garten, one of our favorite local food/beer joints. Admittedly, we hadn't been there in a while. I'm thinking three to six months. Okay, we have a LOT of favorite local food/beer joints. It's hard to get to all of them very frequently. When we arrived, we thought that maybe we had the wrong street, because the "Ludwig's" sign had been replaced by "Time," but this was definitely Ludwig's storefront. We figured that they had just changed their name, and decided to forge ahead.

The only picture I could find of the new sign, in-progress:
[Photograph courtesy http://foobooz.com/?tag=time]

But it looked like Crate and Barrel had vomited in there. All the rustic, manly wood booths, German beer paraphanelia, and hunting trophies had been ripped out and replaced by depressing wannabe-chic decor that only a gay interior-decorator could have dreamed up (please forgive the remark, because it's true), complete with annoying lounge music - just like every other "up-and-coming" restaurant in Philly. They still serve German beer - perhaps because they already have the infrastructure for it and because former Ludwig's fans go there expecting it - but at twice the price. When I want (and can afford) chic and upscale, I go to a chic and upscale restaurant. When I want dark and divey German, I go to Ludwig's. Another one bites the dust.

Ludwig's, we shall miss thee. Katie, Kalina, John, and all others who had the pleasure of passing a happy evening in this old-school establishment before its demise at the hands of Philadelphia restaurant snobbery, I ask you to join me in a moment of silence as we mourn the loss of this old friend.

The upshot? The newly-renovated restrooms are at lot less icky. Sorry, Ludwig's.