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Heirloom Cafe Is Closing in December

Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Daughter and father Jessica Rothacker and Travis Burch, who started and still own Heirloom Cafe in Boulevard, announced Friday that the restaurant would close Dec. 18.

A Facebook and Instagram post read, in part, “While we feel very proud of how we have grown in our time as a restaurant, we have left parts of our lives in the shadows, missing weekends, day trips, even first steps to be with all of you. We have asked those that we love most to wait just a few minutes more and then a few minutes more for us to come home, to put both kids to bed for more nights than not, to wake up all alone while we make and serve meals to other families and to other people that we may not even know.”

Rothacker said that, over the summer, while she and her father both had COVID, they independently came to the same decision about the restaurant. “We wanted to spend our time with our family/ies, and that it was time to let go of a work-comes-first attitude that seems to be hereditary for us,” she said. “The working world seems to be shifting toward a new quality of work-life balance, and we decided it was time to tip things the other way for us.”

Although Burch was already retired, he will retire “for real this time.” Rothacker isn’t ready to retire yet, but she wants to take a break and “rest, read, spend weekends with my husband and kids, and try to explore some creative avenues that I haven’t been nurturing. I plan to return to working after a break, but with a different focus on how I would like to lead my life.”

Although many restaurants have been experiencing serious financial difficulties as the cost of food, labor and rent continue to climb, and diners haven’t returned in full force, Rothacker says that wasn’t the case with Heirloom, even though she and her father don’t own the building.

“The business has actually been thriving these last two years, and a lot of that has to do with the way we handled the pandemic both for our staff and our guests,” she said. “We were very lucky to have a lot of things go our way, and be able to make a choice to finish our time at a high point in the restaurant’s life. We are very proud of what we have accomplished and all of the hard work put in by our staff. They have done so much, and to them we are eternally thankful.”

Heirloom will not do Thanksgiving sides or desserts this year as it has in the past, but it will close out the year with some of its regular events, including its Thanksgiving and holiday markets and wine dinners.

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