This was the most depressing message to land in my email box in quite some time: Native Bay is closing.

The restaurant is located just outside Chippewa Falls, Wis., about 100 miles east of the Twin Cities (a trip roughly equivalent to driving to the popular Harbor View Cafe in Pepin, Wis.). Chef/owner Nathan Berg, a veteran of Harvest in Madison, Wis., takes a zealous approach to sourcing the best locally raised ingredients and preparing them with finesse. The lakeside restaurant, a former supper club, is a real charmer, and Berg caters to all kinds of tastes, from the burgers-and-beer crowd to diners in search of a serious meal.

Still, the formula wasn’t working (is it the out-of-the-way location? the fish-fry-minded dining scene?), and Berg is pulling the plug on the 29th, which gives Twin Cities diners just two more daytripping weekends to get out to Lake Wissota and enjoy Berg’s hospitality. He’s got a lot of talent, and hopefully he’ll land on his feet, soon.

Here’s the message:

“It is with great sadness that we must inform all of you that after three years of business, Native Bay will be closing at the end of this month. Our last day of business will be Sunday, June 29th.

This was not a decision that was reached lightly. We struggled very hard for (exactly) three years and all of us here at Native Bay have put in more hard work than you can imagine keeping our restaurant afloat. However, mounting debts, uncertainty towards the future and some severe burnout on behalf of many of us have forced us to throw in the towel.

We would like to thank all of you who have supported us throughout our run here. It was those of you who truly understood our mission of incredible fine dining and local food that kept us going strong as long as we did. Even though we’re closing the doors, we don’t consider what we did here at Native Bay a failure. We helped bring the notion of local food — and all that that entails — to this community and we made plenty of people happy along the way. We’ve made connections with a host of fine folks — whether they be farmers, producers, customers or our own staff — and these are relationships that will continue long after Native Bay is a mere memory.

Here in our last two weeks of business, we hope that any of you who are interested will take the time to come out and enjoy one (or maybe three) last meal(s). We would like to raise as much money as we can in our last days to make sure that we get as many of the bills paid up as possible. Even if you can’t make it out, any kind words or feedback you might have for us would be greatly appreciated.

Finally, our closing does not come without a few silver linings. Primarily, please know that we won’t quit our core mission of fine dining and local foods. Soon after we get our whole aftermath squared away, we will be in search of a new building where we can start anew and focus on what we did best. We are firmly committed to the Chippewa Valley, since we’ve come to believe that the farmers and producers in our region are some of the most progressive and amazing people in the whole country.

Certainly, our next endeavor will be a smaller venture and in a location that doesn’t bring with it such a seasonal fluctuation of business, which will in turn allow us to focus even more energy on our goal of creating a dining experience that’s worth writing home over. We may need some help along the way too, so please don’t be afraid to contact us if you feel you can be of assistance.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Farm-focused restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.