Change can be a good thing, and there can be a lot of change in the restaurant scene. Here's a look back at which restaurants and cafes expanded, renovated or changed hands this year.
LENOX — Now under new ownership, the former Cafe Lucia is being rebranded as Cookout, a cantina style tapas eatery with expanded seasonal outdoor dining, although it will be open year-round.
The Church Street establishment, formerly home to a landmark downtown restaurant offering gourmet Italian cuisine, was purchased last month by cryptocurrency tycoon Ryan Salame, 28, the Sandisfield native who now owns six downtown commercial sites for his dining ventures.
“We’re looking forward to opening another restaurant and keeping downtown Lenox vibrant,” said Jeffrey Lynch, Salame’s local attorney, during a meeting last week with the Lenox Select Board. He said additional renovation plans for the property will be presented in the coming months.
Cookout will be managed by Jane Blanchard, a local restaurant industry veteran who also oversees Firefly Gastropub, acquired by Salame last year.
“We’re going to have a long winter of renovations,” Blanchard said, starting with an interior revamp. She recently turned over management of the Olde Heritage Tavern, acquired by Salame last spring in a $1.5 million real estate deal, to Becky Piccolo.
According to documents on file at the Berkshire Middle Registry of Deeds in Pittsfield, North Sandy Brook LLC, Salame’s real estate company, acquired former Lucia site for $1,250,000 last month from Nadine E. Atalla, the business partner and wife of the late Jim Lucie, who opened the restaurant in 1983.
Lynch appeared before the Select Board to seek transfer of the restaurant’s all-alcoholic license to West Marble Table Inc., a separate company formed by Salame to operate the business. The board unanimously approved the application, now in the hands of the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
Under the license, the property currently has bar seating for 12, indoor tables for 45 diners and seats for an additional 45 patrons outdoors.
In addition to Firefly, the Olde Heritage, the former Cafe Lucia and its adjacent building, Salame has purchased The Scoop, an ice cream parlor and sweet shop to be expanded in the near future and renamed Sweet Dreams, and a restaurant site on Franklin Street, once the home of Lenox Pizza House, to be reopened as an eatery with details to be announced.
“There’s a lot of potential there,” Salame said recently, referring to Cafe Lucia in a wide-ranging Eagle interview about his multiple acquisitions in downtown Lenox. He has invested a total of about $5 million into downtown Lenox properties.
Based in the Bahamas, Salame is CEO of FTX Digital Markets, a subsidiary of the global cryptocurrency exchange FTX.com.
He decided to purchase Cafe Lucia after meeting with co-owner Atalla last spring as Lucie’s health declined. He died June 13.
Outdoor dining during the warm-weather months will be expanded since Salame also acquired the adjacent house on Tucker Street, zoned commercial and formerly owned by Atalla. That property, acquired by Salame for $300,000, has additional space for al fresco service and will also house his new catering venture.
“Cafe Lucia was really Jim and Nadine’s vision, and it would be hard for me to push that forward,” Salame pointed out before the real estate transaction closed on Dec. 7.
GREAT BARRINGTON — The Marketplace will hold a grand opening celebration for its newest location, The Marketplace Specialty Food Shop, this weekend. The event will take place Friday through Sunday at the new store's location at 265 Stockbridge Road.
The store offers breakfast, lunch and dinner items, a large section of prepared foods and artisan cheeses, and a fully staffed pastry department. The store is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
This is the first store for The Marketplace chefs David Renner, Kevin Schmitz, Douglas Luf and Christopher Brooks, who also operate The Marketplace Kitchen Table in Great Barrington, The Marketplace Cafe in Pittsfield and The Marketplace Kitchen & Cafe in Sheffield. Information: marketplacekitchen.com.
DALTON — Shire Donuts will officially open its new store at 813 Dalton Division Road in Dalton at 7 a.m. Friday — which also happens to be National Doughnut Day.
This is the second location for Shire Donuts, which owners Jeff and Heather King originally opened in Adams in October 2020. The business features homemade doughnuts made to order.
Due to staffing and logistical challenges, Shire Donuts' other shop at 52 Summer St. in Adams will be closed on Friday, but will be open Saturday and Sunday, according to a post on the company's Facebook page. Shire Donuts will not be taking online pre-orders this weekend as the business works on expanding its online ordering to include its new Dalton shop.
ADAMS — A landmark restaurant in Adams center changed hands this week.
After a decade of providing guests with tastes of Austrian cuisine – and images of a horse breed they may not have heard of – Don Sommer sold the Haflinger House, at 17 Commercial St., to a buyer that holds other properties on downtown streets.
The property sold Wednesday for $375,000 to 97 Commercial Street LLC. The registered agent for the buyer is Kenneth Dedominici, according to records with the secretary of state’s office. The same buyer is associated with properties at 69 Park St., 72 and 82 Commercial St. and 97 Commercial St. in Adams, according to property records.
A message left Friday with Dedominici seeking comment on the Haflinger Haus purchase was not immediately returned.
In a 2018 interview, Sommer said he had decided to sell the property – or at least test the waters.
"If we can sell it, fine. If not, we'll continue to run it," Sommer told The Eagle. The latter proved to be the case for another four years.
Sommer could not be reached Friday for comment.
The former mansion – erected by the Noble family around 1910 in the Greek Revival-style, with towering white columns – has served as a private home, an inn and nursing home.
Sommers bought it in 2011 when it faced foreclosure. "It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to buy it," he said in another earlier interview. "I saw the banker and asked 'How much do you want?' We closed on it in 20 days. My wife almost left me when I told her.”
He named Haflinger Haus for a breed of Austrian horses that the family has raised.
During the pandemic, the Haflinger Haus used outdoor seating to remain open. It was able to offer seating as well in a beer garden area.
The property was initially listed, in 2018, at $445,000. Sommer said in an earlier interview that he paid $110,000 for the property, then invested more than $200,000 in furnishings and a new heating system before opening it in 2011.
This story will be updated.
PITTSFIELD — Responsibility isn’t a choice for Ludwig Jean-Louis, it’s a necessity.
After his mother, Roselie, died at age 51 in March 2021, Jean-Louis became in charge of the finances for his four younger siblings. That’s a big task for anyone at any age, let alone someone who is 26.
But Jean-Louis had always been interested in becoming an entrepreneur. That passion is what motivated him to recently purchase Cravins Soft Serve & Frozen Yogurt, a small, popular ice cream stand on Elm Street where he, his siblings, including 18-year-old twin sisters, and two of his cousins are all part of an eight-member workforce.
He bought Cravins, which offers both hard and soft serve ice cream, from its former owner last month and leases the space. A seasonal business, Cravins opened for the summer in late May.
“I’ve always had an eye for the entrepreneurial experiences,” said Jean-Louis, who had worked at The Scoop, a Lenox ice cream parlor, which included a stint as a store manager.
Seeing what he referred to as “the back end” of the business at The Scoop, and “becoming familiar and comfortable with it,” gave Jean-Louis confidence to run his own ice cream business.
“Seeing this space open and knowing I have a lot of responsibilities within my family, I saw this as an opportunity to cover those,” said Jean-Louis, a 2013 Pittsfield High School graduate. “But also taking a leap and betting on myself.”
“I was always self-conscious,” he said. “Just recently I began opening up more to the possibilities of what I could do because a lot of times we just play it safe.”
This is Jean-Louis’ second crack at owning his own business. He tried to buy another Pittsfield ice cream parlor four years ago, but the deal fell through. “They wanted to sell the building with the business,” he said.
In 2019, Jean Louis said he ran his own ice cream stand on North Street — his sisters did the scooping — while he was also delivering pizzas. Jean-Louis, who played football, track and lacrosse at Pittsfield High School has also worked for Onyx Specialty Papers in Lee.
Jean-Louis said his mother was always supportive of his ambitions. When she died, “I was basically put in the position to take care of the estate,” he said.
“The duties are split between me and my oldest sister,” who is 24, he said. “But the finance part is really me.”
Born in Haiti, Jean-Louis came to Pittsfield in December 2004 from East Orange, N.J., five years after his family had come to the United States. He doesn’t know why his family moved to the Berkshires.
“I was like 9,” he said.
His grandparents, who moved to Pittsfield shortly before his mother died, live with Jean-Louis in an apartment. His siblings live in his mother’s former house, which Jean-Louis said he purchased in September.
“I bounce back and forth between both houses,” he said.
His twin sisters are in college, while his brother, who is 17, will be a senior at PHS this fall.
Asked how he handles all of the responsibility, Jean-Louis said, “one day at a time.”
Cravins is open from noon to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 10 p.m. on Sunday. The business provides ice cream in various forms including cones, cups, sundaes and pints. The beverage offerings include milk shakes and floats.
Under previous ownership, Cravins and its predecessor, Jilly’s, normally closed at the end of the summer. Jean-Louis also plans to operate seasonally, but is toying with the idea of opening Thursdays through Sundays during the winter. He will definitely stay open into the fall.
“I’d like to be able to go to Halloween,” Jean-Louis said. “It’s still not that cold.”
STOCKBRIDGE — Before it shut down in 2020 due to COVID-19, the Lions Den at the Red Lion Inn was always a cozy, comfortable place with a nice, funky vibe.
Nestled in the basement of one of the Berkshire’s oldest lodging establishments, patrons would gather in this softly lit space under the original tin roof to have a drink or a light meal and listen to live music, which was offered every night of the week.
Hang around long enough, and you might see James Taylor and his wife, Kim, stop in and perform, which they did at the Lions Den several years ago.
The popular spot reopened on Father’s Day weekend, and Main Street Hospitality, which runs the Red Lion Inn, has done a complete overhaul. There are updated furnishings, new floors, a new rug, a menu that features more bite size items, redone fireplaces that have been brought up to code, and even a newly relocated space for the musicians. But that quaint, cool ambience that made the Lions Den so special remains.
Even a classic car needs a tune-up and a new paint job once in awhile.
“The Den had been a workhorse in the 50 years since the Fitzpatrick family bought the property [in 1968],” said Sarah Eustis, CEO of Main Street Hospitality. “It’s had different phases, but it was time for a refresh.”
The renovations, all performed by local companies, took about nine months to complete and cost around $125,000, Eustis said.
The Lions Den originally opened in 1937, three years after the town of Stockbridge provided the Red Lion Inn with a seasonal liquor license, and 30 years before the Fitzpatricks purchased the lodging establishment, so changes have been made to the space before.
Eustis doesn’t know when the last major renovation took place, but said the idea behind the current makeover was to add to what was already there.
“It doesn’t mean there weren’t repairs and stuff done along the way,” she said. “Everything is still as it was. We just refreshed (it).
Ways of remaking the Lions Den were discussed after the pandemic struck in March 2020.
“We were forced to close, so it forced us to rethink,” Eustis said. “We thought that as part of our overall Red Lion Inn master planning — we have a real well envisioned strategy now — that if felt like the right time to give the Lions Den a new life.
“It still feels very much like the Lions Den, only with a little more polish.”
Eustis also believed that redoing the Lions Den would make the space more appealing to the new folks who have moved to the Berkshires over the last two years
“We need to continue to evolve so we continue to stay relevant,” she said. “It’s not that the old Lions Den wasn’t relevant. It’s just that given now with the COVID evolution there are so many more people living here who have come here from New York City. This is a place where everyone can feel comfortable and there will be recognizable beers on the menu. But we’ve got a bird in hand. We’ve got new people coming to the Berkshires, You’ve seen the evolution of Great Barrington and Lenox and Pittsfield and everything. It’s an appeal to a broader audience.
“It’s just waking it up again, basically,” she added. “It’s been sleeping for two years.”
The most visible change to the Lion’s Den has been the replacement of the music space. Musicians used to set up against a wall located closest to the pub’s entrance from the inn upstairs. Now, they will be situated on the other side of the room by a wall with a window that looks out on Main Street, and is closer to the Lions Den’s outside entrance. The speakers and sound system have been updated.
“When you come down those stairs and you come in there are lights in your face, everyone’s looking at you, and you’re in the band. It’s a little awkward,” Eustis said, referring to the old configuration. “We thought that if the music is here everyone would have a better relationship to the music. You can do more in this corner.”
The Lion’s Den won’t have live music every night, at least not at the beginning. But an event calendar for the Lions Den has been added to the Red Lion Inn’s website for the first time. A turntable for what Eustis refers to as “vinyl nights” has been added. Spoken word performances and comedy acts are under consideration.
“We’re going to ease into what the right rhythm is for us,” Eustis said.
The infrastructure at the Lion’s Den has been completely revamped. A new floor and HVAC system have been installed. The walls have been completely rebuilt, which made the space drier.
“There was definitely moisture and more stuff happening that had a dampness to it that we fully resolved,” she said.
The rug is similar to the old one, but is brand new. The bar is the same but has been refinished. The tables and chairs resemble the original furniture. Each table has a small rechargeable LED light placed on it.
The leather seating around the far walls has been redone, and includes fabric that Main Street Hospitality obtained from Blantyre in Lenox, after new owners renovated that historic inn in 2018 (Blantyre had previously been owned by the Fitzpatrick family).
“The things that we thought were important we’ve kept exactly the same,” she said.
Main Street Hospitality is taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the new Lions Den. It’s possible more changes are in store.
“The soft opening will go on for a month,” Eustis said. “We’re going to be tweaking and readjusting the whole time.”
GREAT BARRINGTON — Six months after opening its second location in Great Barrington, ExtraSpecialTeas is planning to enhance that space by creating an adjacent outdoor area to use for both dining and events.
ExtraSpecialTeas, which employs adults with special needs, recently received a $10,160 grant from MassDevelopment to construct that space just outside the nonprofit's newest location, at the site of the former Housie Market on the corner of Pleasant and Main streets in Housatonic.
The area is expected to be in place and functional by the end of the summer, said Cherri Sanes, who founded ExtraSpecialTeas with her husband, Scott, six years ago. The nonprofit's original store is located in the center of Great Barrington.
ExtraSpecialTeas intends to use the new area for both outdoor dining and performances, Sanes said. Having outdoor spaces to conduct events is also a plus as COVID still lingers in the Berkshires.
"With COVID, everybody hopes it will be over, but it's still around," Sanes said. "The more outdoor spaces that can be created in the communities the safer everyone is going to be.
"There's not a lot of restaurants over there in Housatonic or outdoor spaces, so we wanted to create something nice for the community."
Sanes said the nonprofit plans to hold a small dance event both in the new space and in a park across the street from the new store in the fall. An event held in the memory of a late artist who once operated an art studio in Housatonic will take place in December.
"We're hoping to have some musical events out there," she said.
ExtraSpecialTeas' new store had a soft opening in January and a grand opening in April. The former Housie Market, which closed in 2018, was a community hub for the village of Housatonic, and the site has enabled the company to find more jobs for adults with special needs whom the teahouse both empowers and employs as servers, baristas, craft makers, content providers and administrators. The Sanes employ adults with special needs who are too old to qualify for federal and state student education programs, which expire at age 22.
Although the Department of Developmental Services does provide adult education programs for young adults with special needs that are older than 22, many who fit into that category face an uncertain future after they age out of the student programs. The Sanes have first hand experience with this issue; their now grown son, Jache, has autism. Cherri, who is originally from Texas, and Scott, who is from Chicago, initially came to the Berkshires to place their son in an autism program at the Options Institute in Sheffield.
They founded ExtraSpecialTeas to provide a place for young adults with special needs to find a place where they can succeed in mainstream life.
The couple said the most important part of opening a second location was giving the couple an opportunity provide more jobs for people in the Berkshires who have special needs. ExtraSpecialTeas currently employees 10 in Housatonic, and now has 30 total employees.
"We're hoping to hire a few more in the coming weeks," Cherri said.
The location in Housatonic has a commercial kitchen, something the other store in Great Barrington lacks, which allows meals to be served there. It also contains enough room for employees to create their own types of teas.
"We now have five teas that we develop in that space," she said.
ExtraSpecialTeas was one of 14 organizations from across the state that recently received a combined $420,162 in grants through MassDevelopment's Commonwealth Places program to construct outdoor community spaces, public art exhibits, cultural events and other placemaking projects. ExtraSpecialTeas was the only Berkshire-based recipient on the list.
“Community spaces, public art exhibits, and cultural events are at the heart of placemaking, and cities and towns across Massachusetts recognize the positive impact of these projects in supporting local economies and enhancing quality of life,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera.
MONTEREY — Ten months after closing the popular Roadside Store and Cafe on Route 23, Gould Farm is making headway on constructing its replacement.
A residential therapeutic and farming community that had run the town’s only eatery since 1978, Gould Farm recently entered the public phase of the capital campaign it began in November to raise the funds to build what it refers to as “Roadside Cafe 2.0.”
Gould Farm raised $440,000 for the project during the capital campaign’s private phase, and is looking to raise an additional $110,000 during the opening round of the public phase.
To move that process along, an anonymous donor and Gould Farm’s board last week announced a $55,000 matching gift challenge, meaning they will match all additional contributions received by Aug. 19 on a one-to-one basis.
That match challenge has yet to be met, Gould Farm’s development director Melanie Brandston said on Wednesday.
The entire project is expected to cost $1 million, but Brandston said $550,000 is enough to get the Roadside Cafe 2.0 project underway, and complete two-thirds of the construction. Once the campaign reaches that threshold, Gould Farm can begin planning for construction, which will consist of site and prep work, according to executive director Lisanne Finston.
Gould Farm has yet to hire a contractor, and the old building still needs to be demolished before site work on the new building can begin, but both Brandston and Finston said it’s possible that construction could start before the end of this year.
“I think that at this stage of the game every day moves us further away from that happening, but who knows?” Finston said. “Based on the weather and how much site work can be done at the end of the year, I hope we can at least get some demolition done.”
Once the $550,000 threshold is reached, Finston said Gould Farm will be able to move the project from the schematic design phase into the actual site and construction phase, which she expects will include the permitting process with the town of Monterey.
“The next step is really having more detailed plans and going to the town to move through our approval processes,” Finston said.
Finston said she expects the Conservation Commission will need to review the project and the new structure’s septic system will need to be reviewed before construction can start.
“I don’t think we’re going to need any zoning,” she said. “We’ll just go through the usual permit process.”
The new restaurant will be built on the site of the former cafe, which was housed in a 100-year-old building that had once served as a gas station. The eatery, which is staffed by residents of Gould Farm, became known for its food, its lack of space, and the employment opportunities that it gave to people dealing with mental health issues.
According to Brandston, the new building will be 2,000 square feet, double the size of the old one. It will contain a commercial kitchen, retail area, bakery counter, dining area and three bathrooms. Deigned by Zac Culbreth Architecture of Great Barrington, the building will also be set farther back from Route 23 than the old one was and have a 400-square-foot patio for outdoor dining. Placing the new structure farther from the road will provide more parking for patrons, more room for green space and additional room for outside dining, Brandston said.
In a nod to the Roadside’s former use as a gas station, Brandston said the new structure could include an electric car charging station “if the possibility is there, but that’s getting way ahead“ of where the project is now.
The capital campaign started in mid-November, less than a month after the old Roadside closed on Oct. 30. According to Brandston, the board was prepared to chip in close to $200,000 during the capital campaign’s private phase, but Gould Farm wasn’t sure where additional funds would come from.
“We learned that probably 99 percent of the people who go to the Roadside as customers do not give to Gould Farm in general,” she said. “So we had to do a lot of word of mouth, and events as best we could because of COVID letting people know we needed to raise money and that anyone who was interested in making an investment could call to let us know.”
The hard work paid off, but an additional boost may have come because of the town Gould Farm is located in. During the fundraising process, Brandston said Gould Farm learned that the trustees of three major international foundations were Monterey residents, and their groups have all agreed to donate to the campaign.
Finston said the capital campaign will remain in the public phase until the $1M goal is reached.
“We’ll look to get as close to our goal as we can,” she said.
WILLIAMSTOWN — After over two years of being closed, the Store at Five Corners at 4 New Ashford Road in Williamstown will reopen at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
The move comes after The Store at Five Corners Stewardship Association bought the property earlier this year, and Corey Wentworth, who is a chef and Hancock resident, was announced as the operator of the store's kitchen and general store.
According to a news release, Wentworth and his team have been working diligently to refresh the 252-year-old building for customers. The operator/chef is working closely with Berkshire County farmers, purveyors, and artists to provide the foundation for the cafe menu, grocery items and gift selections.
“I want our customers and staff to enjoy a convivial atmosphere, delicious food, and each other’s company and conversation,” Wentworth said in a provided statement.
The cafe will offer a locally sourced, seasonally rotating menu, and the market shelves will be stocked with reasonably priced everyday basics and some new favorites. The menu will feature breakfast from 7:00 to 11:30 a.m., followed by sandwiches and salads, served until 7:00 p.m. A grab-and-go case will offer select menu items, prepared fresh daily, and weekly take-away dinner options, available in the late afternoon for those short on time and seeking restaurant-quality meals.
The store’s operating hours are Tuesday through Friday (7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.); Saturday (8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.) and Sunday (9:00am to 3:00pm).
The store hopes to obtain approval of an on-premise beer and wine license. If granted, the store will remain open until 9:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with additional menu items and specials available during the expanded evening hours.
NORTH ADAMS — After a temporary closure, Desperados has been sold and will reopen Thursday.
The new co-owners plan to keep most of the menu that previous owners developed.
"We're going to keep the traditions alive that they built so strongly at Desperados — great margaritas, great Tex-Mex grille style food," co-owner Chris Bonnivier said. “We're not ones that are going to shake it all up and make all these changes."
Bonnivier, Joseph Bevilacqua and Sandra Lopez Nieves recently bought the Eagle Street restaurant. Bonnivier grew up in Dalton and his family now lives in Adams. He has worked in the restaurant industry for decades and appeared on the show "Beat Bobby Flay."
At Desperados, Bevilacqua will be the chef and Lopez Nieves will manage operations. They both live in southern Vermont where they have worked in restaurants including La Casita in Wilmington, according to a statement from Desperados. Originally from Isabella, Puerto Rico, the duo plan to bring those roots to the restaurant.
Though Desperados previously struggled with staffing amid the pandemic, Bonnivier said he and the new co-owners are confident it will run smoothly. "There will be a constant level of management on the floor and in the kitchen," he said.
The reopening Thursday comes after a brief closure. A few weeks ago, the restaurant announced a temporary closure to "restructure" the North Adams business.
The new owners bought the restaurant from Peter Oleskiewicz, who had owned it since 2017 and also owns Miss Adams Diner in Adams.
"It was a really tough decision to make, but I feel it was best for everyone," Oleskiewicz said in a statement. "I am thrilled to have such an amazing group of people take Desperados to the next level."
PITTSFIELD — Terry Bishop had wanted to expand his Lanesborough restaurant business into Pittsfield. He believes he’s found the right spot at the Clock Tower Business Center.
Biggins Diggins, a breakfast and lunch place in Lanesborough, just opened a second location in space on the business park’s lower level.
“I’ve got a lot of friends and a lot of family who live in Pittsfield,” said Bishop, a former minor league baseball pitcher originally from Pittsfield who runs the business with his wife, Jenn.
Biggins Diggins opened in Lanesborough four years ago. “They asked us about opening something in Pittsfield. The opportunity presented itself.”
The space, which has had several food-service tenants, recently became vacant. Bishop took it over as a “turn key” operation from the previous tenant. He learned the space was available in August when he attended an open house at The Berkshire Eagle, located in the Clock Tower complex, one floor above the restaurant.
In Lanesborough, Biggins Diggins serves homemade meals, many including meats smoked in the eatery’s onsite smoker. Bishop doesn’t have a smoker at the Clock Tower, but smoked food items will be available in Pittsfield.
“Everything will be ‘satellited’ in from Lanesborough,” Bishop said. “The brisket, the pulled pork, the smoked chicken, the smoked sugar for the smoked coffee that we serve.”
Bishop said he plans to offer what customers are looking for.
“We’re not here for us,” he said. “If there is something ... we don’t carry, working with the staff we can make this work.
He plans to offer “grab and go” meals in Pittsfield. Most menu items available at the Lanesborough location can be found in Pittsfield.
“Other than burgers, everything is basically the same,” Bishop said. “We’ve added bagels and muffins here, but because there’s no fryer in the kitchen ... it’s not large enough to do burgers, and with no fryer I obviously can’t do fries.”
Including part-timers, Bishop said he has about a dozen employees in Pittsfield. Biggins Diggins in Pittsfield is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
PITTSFIELD — Tito’s Mexican Bar & Grill will open downtown without alcohol service in the coming weeks, its new owner said, following a delayed Licensing Board meeting.
Daniel Gomez, the restaurant’s new owner and the owner of La Fogata Restaurante in Pittsfield, said that due to a Licensing Board meeting being moved back two weeks, along with a wait for approval from the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, Tito’s is likely to open without a liquor license — at least for now.
In an August meeting, attorney Loretta Mach informed board members that Gomez had been unsuccessful in reaching Felipe Perez, one of the restaurant’s former managers, which prevented them from securing transfer of a pre-existing license for the eatery at 34 Depot St.
This led to the board voting to rescind the alcohol permit held by Perez, clearing the way for Gomez to get a new license transferred. But a meeting scheduled for Oct. 31 was delayed to Nov. 14, stalling progress.
Now, Gomez is weighing his options to see when the restaurant will re-open, but expects it to be soon.
“After the meeting on the 14th we should have a more clear view of when our doors will open back up for the public, as we know people are anxious to see what we have to offer as the new owners,” Gomez said in an email in response to questions from The Eagle. “Please hold on tightly, we are very close to opening back up!”
The license hasn’t been the only thing slowing them down. Setbacks in the kitchen at Tito’s have kept the restaurant’s new management from being able to formulate new offerings, Gomez said, but they plan to start cooking there over the next few days to complete their menu.
An electrical unit that monitors and automatically stops gas to stoves and other equipment in case of emergency required updating. But in order to determine that, they had to inspect the entire fire and safety system in the restaurant, then find someone to fix it.
“Waiting for the parts and labor took a shorter time than figuring out the problem and who to call to fix it,” Gomez said. “Between having to run La Fogata and calling different people to come out and take a look at different possibilities, it was a very stressful time.”
Gomez said the restaurant has made it over the speed bump, however, and plans to firm up an opening date after the meeting Nov. 14.
“It has been a challenge and an uphill battle navigating the problems that were left behind by the last owners. But we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Gomez said.
