Courtney Luciana photo
Loretta and Louis Abate.
Regardless of lines going out of the door of New Haven’s renowned “Little Italy” restaurants, many owners didn’t think they were going to make it through the pandemic.
A year later, they’re still standing, and ready to roll as Covid-19 vaccinations potentially bring people out more.
City economic development chief Piscitelli: We’ve got money to help restaurants spring back.
City officials invited Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz on a Wooster Square Tour Wednesday to highlight those stories of survival and plans for the future.
City Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli announced at the tour that government will continue help restaurants expand outdoors through the New Haven Dining Permit Program. The city’s taking applications for financial help. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to obtain information about applying.
“Already 24 restaurants have submitted their application. We only had 37 all of last year,” Piscitelli reported. “This is just an indication that people feel the great opportunity to bounce back differently with both indoor or outdoor experiences.”
The city also launched a $10,000 façade grant program for businesses. The goal is to improve the outdoor experience, such as providing garage doors, wider driveways, and assistance in recovery from the pandemic.
Loretta and Louis Abate, owners of Abaté Apizza & Seafood Restaurant, have been in business since 1992 at 129 Wooster St. Theyt said didn’t think they were going to survive the pandemic. The Abate couple relied on the first wave of the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and loyal customers to survive.
Louis said that the warmer weather and distribution of Covid-19 vaccinations are improving the flow of customers.
“I think that psychologically people are more attuned to, ‘It’s going to get better. It’s going to get better. People are getting vaccinated,’” Louis said. “In the past few weeks we saw people start to come back. With the weather changing now, we’re hopeful that we can get back to where we were.”
Loretta said that she set up the outdoor dining in front of the restaurant last summer. The restaurant is now utilizing the front area and back patio to provide additional seats while adhering to social distancing requirements.
“I was scared last year,” Loretta said. “You have to have a positive attitude. Everyone stuck it out with us. We’re just starting to see the light, so we are applying for PPP again. That will give us an extra push to get through this.”
Gazmir, Aleko, and Jeshar Zeneli.
Another stop on the tour was at Zeneli Pizzeria at 138 Wooster St. The Zeneli brothers Gazmir, Aleko, and Jeshar, who hail from Italy ‚opened the restaurant in 2019 , months before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
“You’re relatively new on the block, all things considered,” Mayor Justin Elicker said to the trio. “I remember coming here about a year ago just after you opened, and we had no idea what was going to happen. You have been persistent in keeping your business open and making sure that people have good food during a very difficult and challenging time.”
The Mother Of All Muzz
The brothers faced the fear of closing down but persevered by offering takeout services and service in an outdoor gazebo. Everyone on the tour got a taste of dishes that assisted in the survival of Zeneli Pizzeria, such as Ricotta e Miele, Margherita Pizza, and “The Mother,” a huge ball of oozing mozzarella cheese.
“Everything is handmade and 100 percent Italian. We are lucky as a family, because Aleko does the finances, Jeshar makes the cheese, and I am the chef. We combine those together and we are a unit,” Gazmir said. “The people like to come more out and be seated outside. Thank you to the city for giving us permission to have a little more of space in front of the restaurant.”
Colin Caplan and Kevin Gagliard showing off the famous white claim pizza.
The tour hit the famous Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana and Sally’s Apizza, Of course, Colin Caplan, a city native, pizza guru and tour guide for Taste of New Haven, said that pizzerias are one of the only restaurants that have tended to increase sales throughout the pandemic.
“Pizzerias have found a whole new market,” Caplan said. “Some have never done delivery before.”
Kevin Gagliard, director of operations at Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana, said that Wooster Street has come alive again as incipient Spring returns a sense of “normalcy” to the area.
“Spring is close and that’s when Wooster Street comes alive,” Gagliard said. “It’s getting better out there as far as restrictions. People are getting more comfortable to come out. An example is last week, when we got that beautiful weather it was like magic out here with the people outside again.”
Rob Nelson, director of operations at Sally’s Apizza, said that delivery was the restaurant’s tactic of changing gears in order to survive the pandemic.
“It’s been really great actually,” Nelson. “We changed our concept a little bit by providing all takeout and delivery. We’ve never done delivery before.”
Wooster Square Alder Ellen Cupo said that the area is fortunate not to have seen businesses shutter. Cupo started her term in 2020. She said that Wooster Street has been booming thanks to pizza.
“But I also think about folks trying to adapt from working at home, online learning, and the pandemic has hit folks in a variety of ways,” Cupo said. “There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done to keep our businesses afloat and successful.”
Bysiewicz Reports 16.5K Net Population Gain
Bysiewicz grabbing a slice of pizza at Sally’s Apizza.
Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz noted that the support of restaurants also affects real estate. On Wednesday’s tour, Barbara Hill, owner of 95-year-old real estate company Seabury Hill Realtors, was recognized in honor of Women’s History Month.
“I was thinking about today and realized that a year ago, yesterday, was the day that the governor ordered a mask shutdown of our bars, restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, and just about everything else,” Bysiewicz said. “Now here we are a year later in a much better and stronger place. We saw a net increase in our state of 16,500 new families that came to Connecticut. And that’s after you take out the people who moved outside the state. Compare that to a year before when we had a net loss of 7,500 families.”
Barbara Hill celebrates with her daughter, Cathy Hill Conlin, inside the office.
Barbara Hill said that the backlash she received in the business ironically came more from women than from men through her years of running the business.
“I was told it wasn’t ladylike to be aggressive,” said Hill. “I didn’t think I was being aggressive. I was just doing my work.”