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JP Samuelson never did return my call - he obviously had more important matters on his mind - but it turns out the rumors are true. Here's the announcement from jP's website:

We are sorry we have to announce the closing of jP American Bistro after 5 and 1/2 years of serving our community. We want to thank all of the countless people who graced our doors and gave us a chance to serve them. It was a privilege and an honor.

Please stay tuned to our website for future updates. We are sorry we won't be able to serve you this holiday season but for those looking for holiday gatherings contact JP directly.

Once again, from all of staff past and present, thank you for sharing all of your memories, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, engagements, hopes and dreams. With the deepest repsect, Namaste

jP, Cheryl and Evie

I always liked JP's American Bistro, and I am sorry to see it go, but I didn't get there very often. In that price category, there are a lot of very good restaurants to choose from, and I never felt a strong tug to head for jP's rather than Lucia's or Corner Table or Alma or Meritage or Vincent or Mission American Kitchen.

Not to be morbid about it, but I predict we'll see a lot of other closings in the month to come, bailout or not. A couple of years ago, we saw a whole crop of high-end restaurants disappear over a short span of time: Goodfellows, Five, Auriga, Aquavit, and more recently A Rebours. And now, we are headed into an economic downturn that is going to be either bad, or very, very bad.

In that last round, those were restaurants where diners mostly spent their own money. My guess is, this time the pain will spread to the expense account crowd. Can downtown Minneapolis continue to support Manny's and Morton's and Murray's and Ruth's Chris and Capitol Grill and r.Norman and Oceanaire and BANK and Porter & Frye and Fogo de Chao? I wouldn't bet on it.

The restaurant business runs on credit, so as credit dries up, establishments with deeper pockets have a better chance of weathering the storm. That would be the chain restaurants. So if you want to bail out anybody gastronomically, spend your dollars at an independent.

As long as I am prognosticating, I predict we are going to see more restaurants offering more Happy Hour specials - anything to get customers in the door, and more of the restaurants with $20+ entrees offering a $12 burger or $14 plate of pasta.