Gabriel Claycamp and Heidi Kenyon, co-owners of the Beacon Hill cooking school Culinary Communion, finally went public with the news we reported last week: CC is history.

First they borrowed heavily to build out the kitchen of their new building on Beacon Hill. They’d just about about recovered when the economy tanked, taking their business down 90 percent in November.

That plus lingering permitting issues finally forced a closure many had seen coming for awhile. Those who didn’t see it coming may have this (taken from Claycamp’s farewell letter to clients) to contend with: "Funds received for March and April classes have already been used to pay Culinary Communion’s staff."

He continues: "Gabriel and Heidi will make good on every one of those registrations, although we realize it may take awhile."

This they hope to do, in part anyway, through a sale of their cooking goods—knife sets and containers to wine and Sub-Zero refrigerators. The sale will be held this Saturday, March 21, from 2pm to 6pm at the Culinary Communion headquarters: 2524 Beacon Ave S, Beacon Hill.

Just show up…just bring cash.

Culinary Communion’s sister biz, The Swinery, will still be offering weekday lunches at its lunch counter, starting this Monday.

As for Gabe and Heidi? They’re pausing, licking wounds, working to get all government ok’s necessary to make their Swinery bacon, laboring to pay back their customers…and grieving. In their words: "Culinary Communion is so dear to us that it’s like cutting off a limb."