Gentrification Strikes Again! Molly Malone's is our Irish pub. It's exactly right. It has dimly-lit hallways which smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke...→[More:]; it has dark green trim and cream walls, great atmosphere for conversing, sherpherd's pie, bangers and mash, old faded Ireland travel posters, and Guinness draft. It's grubby, comfortable, and unassuming.

I open the paper today to read this: The new owner has closed the downstairs and plans to "reopen as Mint...introducing what he believes to be the first instance of Irish-Asian fusion cuisine in this country. He says he will be incorporating lemon grass infusions, coriander rubs, and Kobe beef into Irish-American classics. He's already introduced a new martini menu with concoctions like...the Bloody Himoko, which combines a Bloody Mary base with Guinness and wasabi."

I checked the calendar. It's not April first.

There's only one bright spot; the bar and lounge part of the pub is upstairs and it will not be changing. Which is fortunate, because when his fusion concept fails utterly, he'll be wanting to go back to the ould sod an re-renovate "Mint".