Cafe Zoolu owners call it quits after 24 years

A Laguna Beach restaurant famed for its large cuts of swordfish planned to serve its final customers on Sunday.

Husband and wife Michael and Toni Leech, who have owned the seafood-centric Cafe Zoolu for 24 years, are closing the well-known eatery, located in a 1939 cottage at 860 Glenneyre St..

Decades in the restaurant business have taken their toll, said Leech, citing physical strain and long hours on his feet. He opened the first of seven restaurants — Quiet Woman in Corona del Mar — in 1970.

“All we do is work, work, work,” Leech, 67, said Monday. “It’s time to have a life.”

The Leeches were actively seeking someone to take over the building the last two years but had trouble securing a deal, until a month ago.

Michael Byrne, a Zoolu regular and co-owner of The Saloon, a downtown Laguna bar, had wanted to open a Creole restaurant for the last several years and knew the Leeches were eyeing retirement.

“There is nothing Creole in south Orange County that I’m aware of,” said Byrne, who told his cardiologist the Leeches wanted to close the 33-seat Café Zoolu — renowned for its one-pound slab of swordfish prepared one of three ways — and that he wanted to open a Creole restaurant.

It didn’t take long for the cardiologist to suggest that her brother, Norm Theard, former owner of the Creole Chef restaurant in Los Angeles, join Byrne as a business partner.

“It was perfect timing,” said Byrne, 58.

Within a day or two, they worked something out, said Leech, who added that Café Zoolu would have stayed open had the couple not secured a tenant, since two years remain on the current lease.

Leech said he will most miss the customers.

“We have a unique situation where I cook in front of everybody,” Leech said. “I see everyone walk in the front door, and everyone comes up to me.”

The last two weeks have sold out, and Leech is booked through Sunday. The only way diners could snag a table is if someone cancels or simply fails to show up.

“I can’t believe the outpouring. It’s been overwhelming the last two weeks,” Leech said. “It’s never been busier. Every one wants the last meal.”

Byrne acknowledged he will miss the food, with recipes influenced by Asian, Cajun and Mexican cuisines, and the ambience Café Zoolu provided.

“The town is going to be a little paler after they leave,” Byrne said. “Zoolu is such an institution. It’s going to be interesting to come behind them. It’s not going to be easy.”

Byrne will soon begin the task of applying for all appropriate city permits and hopes to open in two or three months. He and Theard have not decided on a name.

At this stage, Leech said he doesn’t have specific plans for retirement other than spending time with the couple’s new beagle puppy.