For Nancy Beach, eating at the Canyon Lodge American Grill in Aliso Canyon is more than just a filling breakfast before a challenging albeit short round of golf. It’s a spiritual experience.

 

“It’s such a special, spiritual place,” she said. “The way it sits on the terrain is lovely.” Beach, who’s been eating and golfing in Aliso Canyon since the early ‘80s, took a few min- utes to reminisce before a light trek along the nine-hole course in the often fog-filled coastal canyon. Standing outside the restaurant, which closes its doors to the public at 3 p.m. tomorrow, she looked out at rugged cliffs newly greened from needed winter rains and speckled with scrub oak trees, native shrubs and rock outcroppings, the subject of many a plein air painting. There’s a view from every tee.

 

“It’s an old watering hole in bygone years,” she said of the allure of the restaurant, still affectionately referred to as Ben Brown’s, after the longtime previous owner. “It’s a shame to see it as an institution go. But, obviously, it’s changing times and there’s a different kind of crowd and market now with the Montage.”

 

The 80-acre Aliso Creek Inn & Golf Course was purchased for more than $17 million in 2004, according to Realist, title company database. Montage Hotels and Resort currently owns the property, which had been purchased in partnership with developer Athens Group.

 

Known for being tight-lipped about its development plans, Montage released a statement through Ned Snavely, general manager of the Aliso Canyon property, announcing the restaurant’s closing last week. The brief missive did not provide specific reason.

 

The restaurant’s closure represents a second pullback by Montage at Aliso Creek. Plans in the works for two years to redevelop the dated 62-condo inn into a high-end hotel and spa with the addition of nearlyon the-green homes were tabled indefinitely last August due to the uncertain economy. One hotel analyst questioned whether the delay reflected prudent fiscal management prompted by the economic downturn and tight credit or misgivings about the project itself.

 

“People who have the money are looking at this as an opportunity to build for a lot less money than they could’ve done two or three years ago,” said Alan Reay, founder of Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality Group, a hotel broker. “They’re thinking that by the time they finish construction two or three years down the road, the market will be a lot better.”

 

As a consequence, Reay questioned Athens’ intentions in halting the pursuit of needed permits and entitlements. “That entitlement process is a long, long process,” he said, “and once you’ve started it, to stop and restart it is very expensive.”

 

According to Snavely’s statement, the restaurant, which looks much like a mountain lodge with its dark wood, openbeamed ceilings, Native American fabrics and fireside dining, will reopen sometime in the future for catering and special events for “business, social and private groups.” Golfers will still be catered to with a full snack bar and seasonal barbeque on the patio near the pro shop. “Catering will continue as it has been,” Snavely said, adding that regular meetings of local groups, such as the Rotary Club, will continue as usual.

 

“The rest of the resort,” he asserted, “absolutely stays in full operation.” Snavely declined to answer questions about whether occupancy rates and lack of marketing played a role in the decision. Hotel occupancy overall in Laguna Beach is down 15 to 20 percent over last year, according to Reay, who tracks hotel occupancy and room revenue countywide.

 

Asked about the number of jobs lost as a result of the closure, Snavely said obliquely, “We’re doing what we can.” A new manager of catering was hired at Aliso Creek Inn last September.

 

Beach, a retired music professor who grew up on Balboa Island and first came to the restaurant with her parents, said she’ll miss “the feel of the old place,” sharing her memories of being greeted by owner-host Ben Brown with his larger-than-life welcoming presence and watching his wife Violet walking her St. Bernard on the grounds. The Browns purchased the nine-hole golf course in 1956, built a 60- room hotel there in 1963 and added the restaurant four years later. Brown’s widow lived on the property until her death in 2005. A great nephew, Mark Slayman, who used to manage the golf course, now works for Montage as director of sustainability.

 

Beach, who now lives in Fargo, North Dakota, recently purchased property in Los Angeles. “I love it so much, even though I’m up in L.A. this week, I will come down for this golf course.”

 

Francie Pemper, another long-time Ben Brown’s fan, said it had been her favorite place for Sunday brunch for as long as she’s lived in Laguna, more than 12 years. Although she’s a member of the board of directors for the Laguna Beach Historical Society, she said in jest that she’s not sure how much of its history she knows, but “I do know the menu.”

 

After Montage’s purchase of the restaurant, the menu as well as restaurant amenities were trimmed down. “They didn’t offer the fresh fruit bowls or put muffins on your table anymore,” Pemper said.