Short and sweet might have to serve as the epitaph for Mare Nostrum, which opened at the beginning of this year -- and just weeks ago had its grand opening party. Come to think of it, how sweet could it have been? Chef Pedro Gallardo was imported from Murcia, Spain, for the project, and the seafood was imported from there too. Lots of dough went into this place.

In Lesley Elliott's First Bites column on the restaurant, she reported that "the monster kitchen is staffed by a total of forty-two people." Which suggests that not only do locals lose a restaurant, but the national unemployment rate just went up again.

A call to Mare Nostrum was answered by someone at its sister establishment, The Lucky Clover (located in the same complex). "Is this Mare Nostrum?" I asked, even though she had just said "Hello, Lucky Clover."

"No, Mare Nostrum is closed."

"For good?"

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"Indefinitely."

She could offer no other details.

Maybe there's just not enough room in this town for two pricey Mediterranean seafood establishments with foreign names -- Estiatorio Milos debuted this week, just as Mare Nostrum exited.

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