I never had a chance to eat at Cafe Chiarini in downtown SanTana, but all the Forkers who tried it swore by it, as did a hell of a lot of other people. But it stayed open for barely a year before mysteriously closing last year in a swirl of rumors.
Now, one of the gals behind it, Judy Fleenor, has reemerged with a new restaurant slated to open on Fourth Street, in the space formerly occupied by Tommy Pastrami. Name of the place? Crave.
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The photo above was provided by frequent SaFII reader and perpetually mysterious Ben Dayhoe, and it comes as a shock to me. That space had been vacant for years now, and it was never part of the conversation of the many restaurants to debut in downtown SanTana this year. But good for Fleenor, and good for local eaters.
The food? What the sign says. Paperwork on file at City Hall shows she plans to be open from seven in the morning until midnight seven days a week–pretty ambitious–and will have a beer-and-wine license. We wish them luck, and we'll see when they open!
