There used to be a time in Ottawa when journalists would grab a liquid lunch together at the National Press Club, which had the added benefit of being in the same building where most news organizations had their main offices.

Reporters would stay for hours at the club and chat with politicians and senior aides who were there doing the same. Unfortunately for the press club, it's fallen out of favour in recent years. Some blame it on the increase in the number of younger journalists (mostly female) who have a different take on political schmoozing. As well, the club fell victim to the new world of smoking by-laws, its own lacklustre food, cellphones and maybe even the 24 hour news cycle.

Today, you're more likely to find journalists, staffers and politicians mixing about in other Ottawa wateringholes like Brixton's and D'Arcy McGee on Sparks Street and, of course, Hy's Steakhouse (a little more upscale but located right across the street from the CBC).

Well, the trickle of business wasn't enough to keep the National Press Club alive. It had to vacate the premises it was renting from Public Works and Government Services Canada. And finally, last month, it declared bankruptcy.

However, it's now reinvented itself as a charitable foundation. It plans to continue to host guests speakers and luncheons and to provide a meeting place for different groups. Its solution is to move into the Sheraton Hotel on Albert Street (three blocks from the Hill).

The hotel will cater and provide a meeting room. And the NPC says the dining room and lounge will always be available for its members, who will now be anyone — not just the national press — willing to shell out $199 a year. Somehow it's not the same.