Several Atlantans are devastated that the iconic Dante's Down the Hatch restaurant is closing its doors after more than 40 years, but it's not the fondue or the incredible nautical decor or even the live crocodile that many said they will miss the most.

It's Dante Stephensen himself. The man who created the legendary jazz-fondue restaurant spent almost every night of the last 40 years talking to customers at their tables and sharing stories from his extraordinary life.

Perhaps no one will miss the restaurant, which he said is the country's oldest jazz club, as much as Dante. "The restaurant is my wife and the staff are my kids. I'm not married. That's the way I look at it," Dante said.