After approximately a year in business, Little Thief Wine Bar shuttered on University Avenue in North Park earlier this summer. The natural wine bar was the product of Brian Jensen, who is the founder of San Diego's Bottlecraft beer bar and bottle shop locations, Vino Carta Wine stores, and is in the process of launching an Old World-style pub and eatery called Bock Bar in the former Hamilton's Tavern space in South Park. Jensen rebranded the Little Thief space to become Long Story Short, a concept which has operated from within Vino Carta's Solana Beach location for almost two years.
Long Story Short was the first standalone brick-and-mortar restaurant from husband-and-wife team and San Diego natives, Chefs Elliott and Kelly Townsend. The dinner-exclusive restaurant unveiled in mid-August with a menu of California cuisine prepared with seasonal and local ingredients. Chefs Elliott and Kelly, who previously cooked at Cowboy Star and Juniper & Ivy, respectively, both grew up in San Diego county and met at the Art Institute of California San Diego, where they both earned bachelor's degrees in culinary management.
"Well… There is is real easy way to say this," posted Long Story Short on the company's Instagram page. "December will the the last month of Long Story Short in North Park. We will be closing for good on the 30th just before the new year. It's been a great ride the past few months in our North Park residency. We’d like to thank everyone involved in helping open and working with us. Our staff has done an amazing job representing our ethos and helping us get our food to the community."
With the closure of the North Park restaurant, the Townsends plan to return to their pop-up roots. They hope to eventually find another brick-and-mortar space to reopen Long Story Short.
Long Story Short will continue operating at normal hours until the end of the month at 3017 University Avenue in San Diego's North Park. For more information, follow Long Story Short on Instagram.
