The Shutter: Roland Passot Closes East Bay's Left Bank

Pleasant Hill: Last week, Russian Hill's resident four-star chef Roland Passot opened LB Steak to replace his shuttered Tanglewood down on Santana Row. On Sunday, he pulled the plug on his only East Bay branch of Left Bank Brasserie. The reason cited for the closure is the unforgiving economy, and though a move to Walnut Creek was once in the works, that plan has been abandoned as well. Word on the street is that in tough times like these, the money simply wasn't there. Nonetheless, the good news is that the other four Left Bank locations are still very much open and according to the LB people, doing quite well.
Update: Oh dear: the San Mateo location is down too.