31, as the calendar ushers in a new year, it will usher in a new chapter for Mendoza but usher out the last chapter for The Caliph. Just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, as the clock’s about to strike 12, Sherman Mendoza will steel himself to do something one last time: toast the new year with friends at The Caliph, the piano lounge and bar he’s owned for 15 years.
