The Capitol Hill Seattle blog reports news about Travelers Thali House: the original Travelers Tea Company cafe on East Pine Street is closing, to be replaced by a gaming cafe later this summer. However, the Beacon Hill branch of Travelers will remain open.

Travelers owner Allen Kornmesser found out that someone else would be taking over the Pine Street space by reading the CHS blog posting, and commented on the page: “as the owner of TRAVELERS, I heard it here first! We haven’t been told a thing.”

It has been a difficult time recently for Kornmesser, who has been dealing with emergency hospital bills. Friends have organized a fundraising drive to help his family get through this time.

This 7-and-a-half minute video posted today by local filmmaker Paul Turcott describes Kornmesser’s background and plans for the Travelers restaurants, with some footage of the Beacon Hill restaurant.