MILLENNIUM MOMENT

For 10 hours a day, Hildegard Provence could be found at Mutter’s, a

Costa Mesa cafe that dished up plates of bratwurst, fried potatoes,

stuffed cabbage, and other hearty delights. The German proprietor

subscribed to the belief that her customers “had to be well-fed and they

have to be happy.”

Provence ran the Baker Street cafe for 20 years before plans to create a

condominium project forced her to close her doors in 1979. The yellow Formica counters and German travel posters that decorated the cafe were

torn up, but Provence took the stove of the restaurant with her.

“My stove is coming with me,” she said. “We’ve been friends so long we’re

not going to part.”

* MILLENNIUM MOMENT celebrates the people who have made a major

contribution to the Newport-Mesa community during this century.