DENVER (DP) - After nearly 27 years of dinner specials, movie-star visits, and power-broker lunches, Strings restaurant in Denver is shutting down.
Owner Tammy Cunningham has decided to make April 30 the last day of business at Strings.
Since her husband Noel Cunningham committed suicide Dec. 1, 2011, she has been managing the restaurant, putting in long hours while surrounded by memories of Noel.
"I have been in this business for a long time. The restaurant business is in my blood, but not my heart," said Cunningham Friday morning. "I call it my trauma coma. After Noel passed, within two weeks I was at work, running the business. I didn't have a choice, that was our life. So I had no time to grieve or have a life, other than work 12- and 18-hour days. It's a difficult business."
Cunningham has her own therapy practice, which she put on hold to run Strings after Noel died. The therapy work, she said, is what owns her heart, and she plans to pursue it fulltime once the restaurant closes. While shuttering Strings saddens her, she also finds the prospect thrilling.
