Around Middletown in 80 Days: Day 8

Amici's Italian Restaurant

280 Main St

Join Phileas outside on this beautiful late summer day for a great dinner at Amici Italian Restaurant on Main Street in Middletown. Please come out, bring a friend, and support Oddfellows Playhouse. 20% of sales this evening will be donated to Oddfellows.

Phileas is looking forward to enjoying some lobster ravioli - he's heard great things!

Restaurant Rumors

Hope you're hungry, because there are lots of changes at Main Street restaurants - either because of the economy or in spite of it.

First, a trio of alterations at Metro Square:

•Megawraps has given up on the lunch crowd in favor of a piece of Middletown's growing nightlife. Now called the Shadow Room, there is definitely something fun going on here, with the projection of vintage movies on one wall, and a screened-off bar at the back. They had a soft opening a few weeks ago and their grand opening was on Friday night. They say it gets going after 8 pm or so. (late clarification: they are still open for lunch!)

•Subway moved from the lower part of the square to the old Sangwich storefront, next to Dunkin' Donuts.

•The ice cream shop has switched names. Praeline's is now the Calypso Creamery Cafe, with tropical decor designed -- no doubt -- to put you in mind of slurping something cool and frosty on a hot beach. They are still making ice cream on the premises, and they've added a birthday room for private parties.

Other changes include a new look for the exterior of Amici's -- still in progress -- with new roll-out awnings and a trendy new sign. There's been a change in ownership and name at the former Sweet Smelling Savour Chocolates (the owner is still working on the new name, so stop in and ask him. The Hartford Courant just wrote him up.) It's Only Natural Restaurant has brought Higganum artist Ted Esselstyn back to create more of his inimitable sculpture on their outdoor deck (this deserves its own post, and I'll go take some photos as work progresses).

Up and down the street, almost all the restaurants have their sidewalk tables out, with the award for "best hanging flower baskets" going to Luce's. Even Ford News has joined the party, with the addition of a few two-seaters out front.

And finally...drum roll please....the amazing renovations at Esca continue (corner of Main & Washington). They are (really) planning to open within a few weeks, starting with a few private parties that are scheduled for mid-month and then opening to the public. I'm sure you'll hear me say it again, but I'm so impressed with the level of detail that the Bramato family is putting into their new restaurant (they are also the owners of Cortina Tile). They started with a powerwash of the exterior (all those cars sitting at the light throw off a lot of grime...I should know), added new lighting and signage, and put in storefront windows that will swing open on the Main Street side in nice weather. On the interior, they constructed two levels of mezzanine dining, brought artists in to create a sculpted nook for storing wine, and mounted an enormous marble panel, lit from behind, as art. They are also planning to take advantage of the deep sidewalks on the Washington Street side to create outdoor dining screened by planters. No more cars parking on the sidewalk...I'm glad to hear it!

I don't have a crystal ball about where the economy is going, but here we are, nine months after the crash, and Main Street restaurants are still going strong. There will always be some who moan about the lack of depth in our retail sector, but from my perspective, the first step is to get people coming downtown, and the restaurants are doing a great job with that. Hopefully, our stores will someday figure out how to capitalize on all that evening foot traffic!



Here are some photos of Esca's construction over the past 10 months or so:

Middletown Food on CPTV

There's a new show on Connecticut Public Television called Eating CT.

I know, I know, not a very appetizing title (pardon me, but I think you have a bit of the Wilbur Cross Parkway stuck between your teeth), but one of the early episodes features a culinary trip down Middletown's Main Street with show host Jason Hawkins, including stops at O'Rourkes, Luce, Amici's, Tuscany Grill, Vechitto's, Forbiden City, It's Only Natural, and... the Wadsworth Mansion?

The show initially aired last Saturday, and due to CPTV amazing lack of promotion, hardly anyone I know saw it.

It airs again tomorrow, Thursday Nov. 6, at 8 p.m.

H/T to John Elmore.

It ain't Wall Street

In all the economic upheaval, it's been kind of nice to hear politicians say they are thinking not just about Wall Street, but about Main Street too. Shucks, guys - we didn't know you cared!

So while Main Street is the new buzzword, I thought I'd chime in -- from Main Street, Middletown --about how things look from the cheap seats.

How is the economy doing right here?

Most places I shop downtown are holding their own, but are feeling very cautious as they face the important holiday shopping season, which can make or break our retailers. "So far so good, but I'm watching that fourth quarter" as one shop-owner said to me. Others are more pessimistic -- one long-time storekeep said: "How is it? It's not good." But on the positive side, I hear from retailers who think that more people are shopping local because they are reluctant to drive out of town. And the new It's Only Natural Market just posted their best Monday in the history of the business (perhaps thanks to the terrific article in the Eye by Pearse Pinch!)

Commercial real estate in the downtown seems sort of schizophrenic -- there's ongoing investment (yesterday I wrote about Fiore's new storefront windows) but there's also a few stubborn vacancies, which don't seem to be attracting viable new business tenants. Sometimes that's good -- when landlords are hungry, it makes room for a new crop of creative, risk-taking entrepreneurs. But it also leaves us with a "knocked-out" teeth smile, when you walk past empty storefronts.

The restaurants seem a little soft - and I've noticed a new interest in advertising on their part - but you can still find people waiting for a table here and there, and the sidewalk seating at Amici's and First & Last is still hot. And new businesses like the Taqueria in the North End are filling seats every night, and clearly drawing from outside the neighborhood. Still, it can be pretty quiet on those early weeknights.

How about the banks? We're all watching that one. Our banks are a key anchor in our downtown, and most (except, notably, for Liberty Bank) are attached to very large institutions -- chains, if you will -- that make decisions at some corporate headquarters. That's a little scary when it comes time for them to economize. I hope they stay solid, because the local people who work at these big companies are very much part of our Main Street community.

Happily, the news is good for local tourist attractions (full disclosure: I'm with Kidcity) -- the "stay-cation" has brought new people to town who might have gone Sunday-driving in Litchfield or Cape Cod in better days. We're glad to have them.

So if you can't offer a $700 billion bailout, but you'd still like to do your part to help the economy, then join us down on Main Street. 'Cause all the cool people shop local.