Farrago, the video rental place/coffee bar/meeting place/sandwich shop on Washington Avenue has closed. Other than Everest Cafe, Cummel's, and Gus's Fashions and Shoes, the old Washington Avenue is pretty much gone. There are the pricey boutiques and restaurants for West County to visit on a whim, and there are the homeless around the area that said suburbanites are avoiding. There is less and less of an affordable middle ground. I used to think Washington Avenue could work, and now I'm not so sure. It's not so much a beacon of culture anymore, just a pre-fabricated island of the chic, and I have doubts that that can work, and can grow. Farrago, especially, was THE cultural center of the neighborhood. Some groceries, fairly cheap coffee and sandwiches, weekly events... It was a place everyone could hang out, talk about life, but yep, like pretty much every other locally-owned St. Louis business of value, it's gone.

In somewhat nicer news, Washington Ave.'s very tasty sushi bar Wasabi is opening up a second location in Downtown Clayton, where Little Toyko used to be. The prospect of Washington Avenue rolls and okonomi-yaki that close to Wash U. is most welcome.

Score one for the county.
Score negative two for the city. Again.
- posted by Eric @ 5:56 PM