Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published August 8, 2008 Sleek Kenner Bistro Invisible Calas Bistro Says Good-Bye Vicki Krantz, who with her family opened the Calas Bistro in Kenner two years ago,  sent an e-mail to her list yesterday announcing the restaurant has closed. "This has been a labor of love. and we feel the restaurant has been a tremendous success in many ways," her massage read. "But the economic times have not allowed it to gain the traction needed for continued operation." That may have been part of the problem. But there were others. The north half of Kenner has only rarely been a successful venue for first-class restaurants. It's too far from most parts of the city where customers for this kind of restaurant live. And half the circle from which customers could be drawn is in the swamps of St. Charles Parish. It didn't help that the restaurant was nearly invisible, in a small strip mall in front of a largely-defunct larger mall. Although the restaurant itself was a marvelous, cool environment, one did have to get there first. When we had an Eat Club dinner there about a year ago, I circled the neighborhood long enough to almost make me late on the air, even though I knew where it was. Finally, the restaurant was so small that it would have been tough to make a go of it even with most of the tables full. The food and the concept were not a problem. The original menu was created by Frank Brigtsen, and the execution was fine. The idea of having a small retail wine operation there was interesting, resulting in a very good wine selection with dinner. The interesting innovation here was announced by the name itself. Calas, the Creole rice cakes that have been on the brink of extinction for decades--were revived brilliantly here. I hope somebody else picks up on the idea and keeps it going. Now we're back to just the Coffee Pot for those of us who like calas. Disappointing news, this. But summer closings are nothing new here. And we still have far less restaurant turnover than most cities do. © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com