Get ready for fresh bagels with your artisanal cheeses: The team behind longtime New Haven favorite Caseus Fromagerie & Bistro is readying a new concept at 93 Whitney Ave. Jason Sobocinski, Craig Hutchinson and Alex Lishchynsky plan a mid-November opening in the space, at the corner of Trumbull and Whitney near the Yale campus.
Renamed Olmo, the restaurant will focus on new American cuisine with lots of grab-and-go options. The downstairs space that once housed a cheese shop will now feature bagels and lots of to-go meals along with selected cheeses, Hutchinson said. The new restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The name Olmo, Italian for “elm,” highlights the chefs’ emphasis on locally-sourced products with international flavors.
Reservations are available on the Olmo website here — with the caveat that the opening date has not yet been finalized.
***Â
Cousins Maine Lobster, a national food-truck chain which expanded with the help of an investment from “Shark Tank,” is coming to New Haven. The eatery — which features $16.50 lobster rolls (Maine- and Connecticut-style), bisque, chowder, lobster grilled cheese, tacos and other items — will make its local debut with a truck at the Hammonassett Festival at the Guilford Fairgrounds on Sept. 30.
For more info on future locations, visit the Cousins Maine Lobster website here.
***
Hotpot specialist Chengdu Food Trail in downtown New Haven has shut down, the latest in a series of restaurant closures in the prime storefront at the corner of Temple and Crown streets. The space is undergoing renovations for another hotpot concept.
Down the block, Roly Poly Sandwiches at 27 Temple Street has closed to make way for a sushi restaurant, still under construction. Roly Poly stores were once open on the New Haven Green and the Post Road in Orange; the only franchises of the wrap chain that remain in the state are in Stratford and Westport, according to the company website.
