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The Green Market Cafe in Ho-Ho-Kus is gone — something that escaped my attention until last night when a reader named Fred passed it along.

I’ll let Fred take it from here. He sent a fun obituary, with the [mostly] vegetarian cafe’s highlights and lowlights:

We’ve always seemed to have a love-hate relationship with this restaurant and it’s Chef/Owner Jim. GreenMarket was a small cafe, the only bastian of American vegetarian/vegan dining in Bergen County.

Here’s some of my un-fond memories:

1. Hiring a waiter who often told you it was late (at 7:30pm on a Saturday) and to hurry up with your order because they’d be closing the kitchen soon. He then kind of throw your silverware and plate of food on the table rather then gently placing it down. A few well placed low tips discouraged him from continuing to wait on us on repeat visits, except when he was the only one there. He also served very thin slices of the expensive vegan cake for dessert, so he could take the rest to eat after the restaurant closed.
2. We only ate there April-October,. We ate there once in the winter and I was cold. Jim often kept the heat down to save money. It was a cold storefront with ceiling heat and thin glass up front.
3. The never changing rotating soups choices.
4. The really good homemade cookies that at one point came from Trader Joe’s.

Let me close with some positives:

1. Jim’s willingness to accommodate any special requests to leave something out or put something in. An important thing to vegan/vegetarian/wheat-free/gluten free/sugar free people.
2. The veggies in the food were always fresh and bursting with flavor.
3. The homemade desserts were always great, sometimes vegan, sometimes wheat free, and even sugar free.
4. Carla, the waitress (ex-radio DJ from Arizona) who should have owned this place. A friend who single-handedly made this place a great success for a couple years in it’s midlife with her outgoing personality. She inspired Jim to cook many special items, have “theme” weekends such as Carribean, Mediterranean, & Mexican. Music and psychic nights. She even encouraged Jim out of his shell to make some new soups: African Tomato Peanut Soup? Goodbye GreenMarket Cafe.

Thanks for the good food and memorable memories.

– Fred

[From Green Market Cafe -- RIP]