Bella’s Already Closed

By CHARLES FERRUZZA

Was it just a week ago that I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Bella Restaurant & Coffeehouse at 1403 W. 39th Street? The restaurant wasn’t very busy (there was only one other table of diners while we were there), but the place – which formerly housed the old Macaluso’s Restaurant – was attractive and had a nice energy. The owners, Leah Clayman and Brenda Carlson, both came out of the kitchen to talk to us. They were having trouble getting a liquor license, they said; my friend Carrie had wanted a cocktail with her linguini, but she had to settle for fresh watermelon juice instead.

There were obviously other problems too.

Seven days later and the two-month-old restaurant has closed. The tables and chairs are all stacked on top of each other in the dining room and there’s a hand-written note taped to the window that says the restaurant is closed for “remodeling and ‘rewiring.’”

Rumors quickly started swirling down Restaurant Row that the only remodeling that Clayman and Carlson had in mind was taking all of their furniture and equipment out of the restaurant. A phone call to the restaurant confirmed that. The voice on the answering machine says: “We appreciate your loyalty… We are still going to open. We are currently moving our location to another spot in Kansas City and will have that information posted very soon on our doors…”