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UPDATE: November 14, 2012, Food Trucks filed suit against City of Chicago challenging the passed ordinance's constitutionality. Details on HuffPost

Original post, 7/19/12:

When we announced our closing, so many asked what they could do for LSK.  We're a small business that's closing, not uncommon these days.  But if we can take that energy and pay it forward, that's constructive.  So today, I'm having lunch in Daley Plaza-- last I checked, you don't need a license for that!  You'll recongnize me from the red tape I'll be wearing, to remember all the small businesses that have and continue to struggle.

We may end up being of greater service to small food businesses after we're closed than we ever were when we were open.  Hopefully the frustration and anger at LSK's closing is fuel to improve small business experience in Chicago.  Here's a list of news coverage:

WCPT AM 820 Podcast from Mike Nowak Show

Our closing received so much more media attention than it would have if Mayor Emmanuel had not visited LSK just a couple of weeks before.  He was the victim of unfortunate timing.  The seeds of our closure were sown long before he became Mayor. 

First, let me thank all of you for your heartfelt good wishes for us.  It's been wonderfully overwhelming, and we're grateful to all of you for your support.

The media called me yesterday to comment on the statement released by Chicago Dept of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP--btw, you need a shorter name) about LSK's closure.  Here's what the City said:

Logan Square Kitchen will close permanently on Friday, June 28, 2012. We're grateful to our community and every single person that believes that we can heal community with food.

Having the Mayor visit us was a surreal experience.  There's so much energy around him-- security, personal aides, communications folks-- then Alderman, staff working on whatever he's announcing, TV, press, the public-- jockeying for attention.  All this energy swirls around, and there's the Mayor at the center of it-- calm and charming.  As personable as he is, you can't help but have that "OMG-I'm-talking-to-THE-MAYOR-feeling."

It's been over five months since Health Commissioner Bechara Couchair visited LSK and met with food business owners.  What's happened since that visit?

Our steady stream of health inspections has stopped.  The "new" head of Food Protection that attended the meeting, Sandra Alfred, has already left her position, returning to a post in the Animal Care & Control Division. So the Head of Food Protection is once again a vacant post, as it had been for 1.5 years before Sandra Alfred briefly filled it.