Last week I stepped out in into the garden at Tulip Cafe, the restaurant I've owned since before I started this blog, and staring down at the ground I saw something that sparked a brief moment of clarity: tulips.

Tulips, you know -- as in the flowers that bloom in the springtime. Last fall, my friend David was on some silly cosmic karmic trip, so he planted some bulbs in the garden, convinced that something cool would happen (like, say, tulips sprouting from the ground) as a pleasant surprise in the springtime. I'd completely forgotten about them.

Anyway...

As of Friday, the new majority owner of Tulip Cafe is Raymond Husum, a lawyer from San Francisco who recently moved to Prague with a dream of settling down with his own bar or restaurant. Ray is also an co-owner of The Park, a bar in San Francisco across from the Giants ballpark.

Ray and I met recently and immediately hit it off. He's more experienced that I was when I first started, and his enthusiasm and personality will suit Tulip well, so please stop in and say hello to Ray and the tulips. Ray will be making a number of improvements, to be sure, but don't expect wholesale changes. As for me, I still own 49% of the restaurant, but I won't be playing an active roll in managing its day-to-day affairs.

Don't ask what's next for me: Something different, to be sure, but I don't know what yet.

Tulip's having a party this weekend to celebrate the change (and my new freedom), so send me a line if you want to come and haven't received word by Wednesday or so.