Harvard Square’s landmark restaurant UpStairs on the Square, known for its zebra-print dining room and afternoon tea, will close on New Year’s Eve after 31 years, we’ve learned via an e-mail from owners Mary-Catherine Deibel and Deborah Hughes. “The current landlord has decided to sell the iconic Harvard Square landmark building at 91 Winthrop Street,” they write.
“We founded our first restaurant UpStairs at the Pudding in 1982 because we loved giving dinner parties, and we’ve never stopped thinking of our restaurant as an excuse to host a wonderful soirée every night. Our hospitality—dispensed liberally and happily—is meant to foster a sense of gaiety, of festivity, of well-being—for guest and staff alike. You know—just like at a fabulous dinner party!” says the e-mail.
In keeping with this hedonistic tradition, Deibel and Hughes plan a series of farewell events leading up to the final meal. They’ll host a special dinner on November 17 for couples who got married at the restaurant, called “I Do Two/I Do Too!” complete with a menu of signature dishes and coconut wedding cake, and they’ll throw a “Grand Finale New Year’s Eve Fete” with dancing and champagne on December 31.