Few New York restaurants collected as many accolades in the last year as M. Wells. NY Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton gave the eccentric diner one of his best reviews yet, and New York recently published a piece calling M. Wells Queens' "most exciting" new restaurant. Dinner reservations had to be made weeks in advance. After a rocky start, chef-owner Hugue Dufour and his wife, Sarah Obaraitis, had finally achieved a fine balance. And now, against all odds, M. Wells has announced it will close at the end of August.

In a letter to The Hungry Tiger, the couple explained their decision:

Dear Friends, Greetings from M. Wells, that offbeat diner in Long Island City. As many of you know it’s been an exciting (and sometimes challenging) opening and we are grateful for all the support and encouragement you’ve extended us since we opened last year. Neighbors and tourists and everyone in between have really warmed up to us. In short, we’ve managed to brighten up a forgotten corner with a dusty diner and build for a lovely home for ourselves.

On the heels of our first anniversary, however, we regret to share with you sad news: M. Wells is preparing to close at the end of August. We are in this precarious position because we took the ambitious and risky decision to open M. Wells without long-term stability on the property. The landlord allowed us to occupy the space for a little over a year. We went for it. The space was charming, we lived across the street and we had faith in Queens. And, of course, we hoped that we would work out an arrangement that solidified a future. Alas, we have not been able to strike an agreement with the landlord.

His proposal included astronomically high rent, a short length of lease and a strict buy-out clause. Nothing on the table offered us a favorable environment in which to continue to do business. After several months of trying to negotiate, we relented and accepted the fact that we weren’t meant to remain his tenants.

While this is devastating to the people who love our food, and more importantly the more than 20 employees who’ve dedicated countless hours of overtime, our spirit will not be crushed.

We look forward to keeping you posted with better news. We again thank you for believing in us and we hope we can count on your support in the future.

One thing is for sure, we will stay in Long Island City and we will have you back for brunch as soon as possible.

And in the end, all will be well with M. Wells.

Sincerely, Hugue & Sarah

So there you have it. A seemingly immovable (albeit, thanks to the makeshift space, slightly precarious) operation, foiled by a dastardly landlord. M. Wells was loved almost as much for its venue as it was for its food, so this is indeed a shame. But according to some, Dufour and Obaraitis will open up again in Long Island City, and most likely in a space that has all the charm and old school hospitality of their little diner that could.