CHICAGO — Café Selmarie, a beloved Lincoln Square restaurant and bakery, closed its doors for good on Saturday.
Guests lined up for one last taste and one last goodbye to the cafe’s owner, Birgit Kobayashi, who said farewell after more than 40 years in business.
Kobayashi and her neighbor Jeanne Uzdawinis were young mothers when they met, and they both loved to bake.
They decided to combine their talents, and in September of 1983. they opened Café Selmarie.
Since then, the cafe has employed thousands of people who have contributed their own recipes.
“After cooking and baking for decades, it is time to sit down. I want to travel with my husband and have time to indulge in other interests. We have met so many wonderful people over the years and celebrated birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations with them. We witnessed this sleepy northside enclave blossom into the vibrant, lovely Lincoln Square neighborhood at our front door. We are forever thankful to our customers for their support through all these years,” Kobayashi said in a press release back in September.
