Last day is Dec. 31
By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
Patricia Personius and Tabatha Babbitt are hanging up their aprons.
The mother-daughter duo will be closing their restaurant, Tabatha’s Family Tree, after 19 years on Cold Springs Road. Dinner will be served for the last time on New Year’s Eve.
“It was not a decision that we came to easily,” Babbitt told the Messenger.
Babbitt said various factors, including the rising costs of doing business in New York state, led her and her mother to decide to close Tabatha’s.
Personius and Babbitt said they will miss their customers, and the feeling is mutual. After they sent out an email to their patrons and placed an ad in last week’s Messenger, they received an outpouring of memories and well wishes.
“I’ve loved working with the many organizations and people that we’ve worked with,” Babbitt said.
Over the years, Babbitt and Personius have watched their employees head off to college (sometimes leaving a younger sibling to take their place), get married and return to visit the restaurant with children of their own.
“We have staff that’s been here anywhere from a year to people who have been here almost the whole 19 years,” Babbitt said.
A few employees have had not just their wedding receptions but their ceremonies at Tabatha’s.
“It’s nice that they thought so much of us that they wanted to get married here,” Personius said. “Those are the memories that make it hard to end, because you’ve met so many people and meant so much to them.”
Babbitt and Personius purchased the former Queen’s Plate Trattoria in 2000. They maintained much of the existing Italian menu and began to mix in their own favorites.
“It was Tabatha’s dream all along,” Personius said.
Everything at Tabatha’s is made from scratch, especially their famous desserts (aside from cannoli and ice cream). Tabatha’s sent out 89 desserts on Thanksgiving Day, all made that morning.
“We love what we do. We don’t put out a meal that we’re not proud of,” Personius said.
While customers rave about the popular chicken française and Martha Washington cake, Personius and Babbitt have their own favorites. Personius said she loves making a roast pork dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and apple-cranberry sauce. Her daughter, however, keeps it simple.
“Parmesan-crusted chicken: That’s my favorite to make and eat,” she said.
Babbitt also shared her favorite dessert hack: half a slice of chocolate cream pie and half a slice of coconut cream pie eaten together. “It tastes like a Mounds candy bar,” she said.
As for what’s next, Babbitt will continue at her part-time job, and Personius said she would like to travel and reconnect with family and friends.
“We’ve given up doing a lot of family events because we’ve been here,” she said. “We don’t know how not to work.”
Babbitt said she is hoping someone will buy the restaurant, which is listed at $159,000 by Hunt Commercial.
“They have to love what they’re going to do and truly love it,” she said of potential buyers. “You can’t go into this industry half-hearted.”