"This is one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make," explained Diane Becker, Elaine's longtime manager who inherited the restaurant, "but the truth is, there is no /*Elaine's*/ without Elaine."
"I'm enormously proud of the waiters, the bartenders and the entire staff who have worked so hard with me to keep the place open and going since Elaine's passing in December, but it's simply not a viable situation. The business is just not there without Elaine."
A memorial service on behalf of /*Elaine Kaufman*/ is being planned for June.
Elaine Kaufman opened Elaine's in 1963 and it quickly became one of the city's most high profile restaurants with a legion of literary customers.
During its 48-year run, it came to attract the city's and the country's power elite from media and politics to entertainment and law enforcement.
