This is the eighth and final part of How To Open a Restaurant, an occasional series about the realities of opening a restaurant in Toronto. Last time we looked at building the team. To close the series, we appropriately look at when to know to close a restaurant.

It was the second last day of operations at The Gabardine on Bay St., just south of Old City Hall. Diners gave owner Kate Rodrigues and chef Graham Pratt a hug after one last lunch of mac and cheese and fish tacos. Since it opened just shy of nine years ago, the restaurant was a gem as one of the few non-chain or corporate-owned restaurants in the downtown core. But this past summer, they decided that it was time to sell the business. This past week, The Gabardine closed for good.