Cafette owner Jan Wilson closed her restaurant to pursue acupunture. (Photo by Pete Mazzaccaro)

by Pete Mazzaccaro

Last week, Jan Wilson posted a letter on the door of Cafette, the small yellow-brick restaurant at 8136 Ardleigh St. that she ran for 21 years, announcing she was closing it and searching for a new owner.

Wilson recently earned a degree in acupuncture, and said she would open up a temporary practice at the restaurant site. In the letter to the community, which follows, Wilson is offering complimentary acupuncture sessions.

Becoming an acupuncturist is, she wrote in her letter, the culmination of a 10-year plan.

The small BYOB has been a neighborhood institution and was often full to capacity for both lunch and dinner.

It had, several years ago, completed renovations that added outdoor seating in the side-yard garden. It was the only restaurant in Chestnut Hill not on or adjacent to Germantown Avenue.

Wilson said in the letter that she waslooking for the"right restaurant operator"to take over the business.

Her letter:

Dear Friends,

I want to thank you very much for being loyal customers to my family and me over the years. It has been a true joy to get to know you. You trusted me to host weddings, bridal showers, funerals, birthday parties, and everyday meals. The season has come, however, for me to close my dear restaurant.

While I am waiting to find the right restaurant operator to take over, I am setting up a temporary acupuncture clinic in Cafette. As some of you know, I have fulfilled my ten-year plan to become an acupuncturist. My personal health has been profoundly helped by acupuncture. I cannot tell you how inspiring it is to experience how helpful acupuncture can be for many different illnesses, including migraine headaches, insomnia, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, poor digestion, arthritis, stress and anxiety, allergies, painful periods, sexual dysfunction, and chronic and acute pain syndromes.

I invite you with full heart to phone or email me to discuss how acupuncture might improve and support your health and well being. For the month of September I am happy to offer you a complimentary auricular acupuncture treatment so you can experience the healing possibilities of acupuncture for yourself.

Again, thank you for your support and presence at Cafette. I hope very much that we can continue to share our lives during my transition from comfort food to comfort by acupuncture in this wonderful community of Chestnut Hill.

With Deep Gratitude,

Jan Wilson

jwilson118@verizon.net