Amy Morton, owner and founder of Found Kitchen at 1631 Chicago Ave., knows it’ll be hard to say goodbye when her restaurant closes next month. So to make it a little easier, she’s going to let patrons keep a piece of the its history.
“We are going to be auctioning off all of the contents of Found,” Morton said. “We’re kind of looking at it as, take a little piece of Found home with you.”
Starting Tuesday, Sept. 6, items from across the restaurant’s front-of-house – including glassware and tableware, chairs and tables, knickknacks, couches and even light fixtures – will be listed on silent auction sheets with a starting and ending bid.
Patrons can put in competing bids that grow from the starting bid, or they can go straight to the ending bid to buy it right away.
After the restaurant’s last day on Saturday, Oct. 1, winners will be allowed to come and pick up their items over the next week. (There may be a possible additional “small fee for the electrical (fixtures) coming off the wall,” she said.)
Although the auction will last the entire month, Morton advised interested buyers not to wait long. “I suspect stuff is going to be bought pretty instantly,” Morton said.
Morton announced Found’s closure via Facebook on Aug. 9, almost 10 years after it first opened in November 2012. Property owner Horizon Realty Group declined to extend Found’s lease, and is submitting a proposal to the city to demolish the existing building and develop a new high-rise in its place.
Although she’s closing Found, Morton will not be exiting Evanston’s dining scene: She is also owner and founder of The Barn Steakhouse at 1016 Church St.
She is also listed as the 40% owner of La Rotunde Investment, which is based at The Barn’s address and is seeking a liquor license, according to the city, to open a “full service sit down restaurant” at the site of the former Next of Kin restaurant.