Bidding adieu of Green Street Cafe, Lido Ristorante

Both were, in their own way, classics, with distinctive storylines and house styles that won't ever be replicated. Both will be missed.

It's often said that running a restaurant is much like producing a Broadway show, and it's a metaphor with a good deal of truth to it.

The opening of an eatery is often preceded by much anticipatory buzz, and "opening night" for a restaurant can be just as tension- and drama-laden as any Broadway debut.

During the "run of the show" the experience waxes and wanes as the cast undergoes changes -- chefs leave, menus changes, owners retire or die. Eventually the end comes, sometimes swiftly, sometimes at the end of a slow and agonizing decline.

Those who follow the Pioneer Valley's dining beat have seen two such long running "shows" come to end recently. Both were, in their own way, classics, with distinctive storylines and house styles that won't ever be replicated. Both will be missed.

In late January, the Green Street Cafe in Northampton brought to a close its more-than-twenty-year run, ending a saga of French-inspired, fresh-ingredient dining that was uniquely "Noho."

Owners John Sielski and Jim Dozmati, who'd spent much of the last five years in a struggle with their landlord, Smith College, had only recently prevailed in that controversy, but chose to ring down the curtain nonetheless, holding a special "last supper" event to celebrate the end.

Late last month Springfield lost one of its most enduring dining out landmarks when the Lido Ristorante on Worthington Street closed.

With a 64-year history behind it, the Lido was one of the region's oldest restaurants in continuous operation. Generations had enjoyed its robust, Italian-American fare thanks to the two brothers who ran the Lido, Joseph L. and Donald H. Cerasa. They'd dedicated their lives to continuing a tradition that dated back to a one-room Worthington Street trattoria their father opened in 1948.

The operation remained a class act to end, during its last few days welcoming many eager to make a final visit to a place they loved.

A good restaurant, like everything else in life, isn't forever. Memorable dining experiences out their need to be savored as often as possible, since someday they'll be gone.