I climbed up the City Diner management mountain yesterday, and asked for comment from the mystical and reclusive owner I found at the top.

"Why, oh owner-operator, did City Diner close so suddenly, and has it gone to Heaven, or Hell, or a temporary holding state while awaiting reincarnation as a Mexican Hamburger Stand?" I begged.

From behind his laptop, he thundered, "While the closure may appear sudden, we've been planning a move away from Tongren for more than a year."

Large rocks tumbled down the mountain my desktop background is set to. A flurry of gravel followed: "Of course, it would have been nice to have a second Puxi location open prior to closing Tongren, however we got a last minute deal from the landlord that was too sweet to ignore. We have been in talks with several downtown locations and plan to have the diner up and going again right after the CNY holiday."

As I descended with the knowledge, I heard, off in the distance, a faint cry: "The development in the middle [of the south block of Tongren Lu] is caught up in legal issues. The seedy part should have been shut down on Nov 30."

Wisdom.