UPDATE: FUNDRAISER

On Tuesday, Oct. 12, “Friends of Sofia Goff” issued a press release that her Italian restaurant, Café Revo, closed two days earlier. It was located just south of the Luna Park Café at 2940 Southwest Avalon Way. The organization is raising money for Sofia and her children.

Sofia Zadra Goff and her husband Sean realized their lifetime dream and opened the restaurant Feb. 19, 2009. The menu was modeled after the food traditional to the northern Italian town of Revo where Sofia’s family originated. Sean had been a chef 25 years, 10 years with Anthony’s Pier 66.

Many in West Seattle recall the tragedy that followed. Sean became very ill three months after the grand opening, suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage, and died September 17 at age 43. Sofia and staffer Matthew Melzer, who became general manager, carried on, hired a new chef, Jennifer Meyer, but finally had to close Café Revo’s doors after two separate offers to purchase the restaurant fell through. Both the economy and mounting medical bills contributed to the closing.

Sofia, a fourth-generation West Seattleite, is raising her daughter Maya, 10, an Arbor Heights 5th grader, and Forrest, 16, a West Seattle High School junior. Her mother passed away nine years ago. Her father and two sisters live in West Seattle.

Sofia told the West Seattle Herald she wanted to share her story and to thank her staff, customers, and the West Seattle community that she said she considers an extension of her family.

“I knew it was risky, but I didn’t know all the risks,” said Sofia of the restaurant business. "Sean quit his job in June 2008. We got a small business loan, and were getting deeper and deeper into the build-out, spending thousands of dollars bringing it up to code. I was pouring concrete. We finally opened. For the first few months I thought, ‘Wow! My God. We did it.’ It was happy, exciting.

“Then Sean started showing signs of being sick, bloody noses that lasted hours, wearing down more quickly, and he wasn’t thinking clearly. He started making bad business decisions. He’d order stuff we didn’t need and gave big raises to staff after just two weeks. I mean, Sean had been known for saving other people’s restaurants from going under.

“I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I was a photographer and had a job assisting another photographer (Paul Sauders WorldFoto.) I never worked in a restaurant before and my role was to take care of sales, ads, greet the public, and as Sean got sicker I had to take on more and more of everything. It really got chaotic. I know how to cook my family’s recipes but I am not a trained chef.

“I’d work seven days a week while caring for my kids and visiting Sean in the hospital. It was a shocking thing. All of a sudden he was dead. I went into work the next day.”

Matthew, always supportive, told her not to come in.

“I had to. I was just in shock and had to go threw the motions. My kids wanted to attend school that day, too. I brought Maya to school. I told (Arbor Heights principal) Carol Coram, ‘Sean died last night.’ Carol is so well grounded and knew just what to say. The way she handled it was great. She is so sweet. I love her. She has been very supportive."

Sofia also credits her father, North Admiral resident Bruce Michael Johnson, as a pillar of support. His training as an Eastern Orthodox priest may have come in handy.

“My dad has totally been there to help me. His mother’s side of the family is from Italy, and he was raised Catholic, then converted to Orthodox because he wanted to marry. He met my mother at the Seattle World’s Fair, at the Russian Orthodox pavilion. He was also an executive writer for Pacific Northwest Bell, now Quest. He has officiated weddings and baptisms both at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Montlake near the (Washington) Arboretum, and St. Spiridon Orthodox Cathedral, the one (on Harrison St.) with the blue domes. He married Sean and me.

“After a few months I got my bearings and had to be strong to keep this dream alive, to hold onto the restaurant for my kids and my heritage. I feel like the restaurant saved my life. It kept me going rather than just sitting at home staring at the wall.”

“It was also an emotional time for our regular guests and other West Seattle supporters. People seemed to come together at our restaurant. Some would come up to me and cry. Others would ask my staff, ‘So how is she doing?’

“My staff were worried about me and I feel terrible that I couldn’t save their jobs. I had to walk away, not just from the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent, but also from my second home and my life for two years. Our regular guests were like family. It’s like leaving home and not saying goodbye to anybody.”

She said someone who heard Café Revo closed contacted her and angrily demanded a refund for a gift certificate he still had. Meanwhile, she is trying to hold onto her house.

So what’s next for Sofia?

“I’ll take a few weeks off and breathe and go, ‘OK. Now what?’ I plan to pursue my photography. My friends encourage me to self-publish a Café Revo recipe book. And now I have restaurant management skills I didn’t have before.”

From the Friends of Sofia Goff Fund:

The Friends of Sofia Goff are hoping to help the family get back on their feet (…) Unfortunately the expense of opening the restaurant coupled with numerous medical bills from Sean’s illness and months of operating without a profit have left Sofia and her two children in a desperate financial situation. Monetary donations may be made at any US Bank Branch, to the “Friends of Sofia Goff Fund.” (They may not be made on line.) While these donations will not be deductible for tax purposes they will certainly go to a good cause. Cards and donations may also be sent to Sofia Goff, 4742 – 42nd Ave SW #363, Seattle WA 98116. The Friends of Sofia Goff thank you for your support.

Contact: Kathi Cronin
206 799-1182
friendsofsofiagoff@gmail.com

Also, the Admiral Theater 2343 California Ave. s.w. will host a special benefit for Sofia and family this Sunday, October 24th at 11:00 AM. If you cannot make the movie Ratatouille but still would like to donate, you can donate here:

http://www.fasttrackteam.com/sofiabenefit.htm

Fast Track will match all donations made this Sunday for those who cannot attend the show. Owners Brian Conte and wife, Patti Burke, are family friends.