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Bear Russian Restaurant To Close At End Of The Month

Via Facebook

Via Facebook

April 26, 2016 Staff Report

An Astoria restaurant will close its doors after five years in the neighborhood.

Bear, a Russian restaurant located at 12-14 31st Ave., will close for good at the end of the month, the restaurant announced on Facebook on Friday. Bear will host a “blast-off” party on Thursday.

The lease on the space is coming to an end, and the owners have decided not to renew it, co-owner Sasha Salona wrote in the post. Salona said that they did not make this decision due to a struggling business, but rather to take a break from the challenging task of running a restaurant.

“Ask anyone who is a restaurateur and they will tell you, when you own a restaurant it becomes your life,” the post reads. “We feel that after five years a nice break is not too much to ask.”

Despite the closing, the post states that Salona is proud of what was accomplished at Bear, especially operating a kitchen with a female Executive Chef.

Chef Natasha Pogrebinsky successfully ran the kitchen in a “male-dominated world,” which at times was difficult, according to the post.

Porgrebinsky has appeared on the Food Network’s “Chopped” multiple times.

Salona also wrote a goodbye to the restaurant’s customers.

“It’s not a tragic goodbye – but it is a goodbye nonetheless. It’s life – everything good ends,” Salona wrote. “And it’s okay to be a little sad, that’s what makes us human.”

The owners could not be reached for comment.

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