Restaurateur Rob Maffucci is preparing to vacate the downtown Hartford location of his second-oldest eatery, Vito’s by the Park, opting to move a third of a mile up the road to the Prudential building at 280 Trumbull St.
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Restaurateur Rob Maffucci is preparing to vacate the downtown Hartford location of his second-oldest eatery, Vito's by the Park, opting to move a third of a mile up the road to the Prudential building at 280 Trumbull St.
The longtime chef said the 20-year-old restaurant's move was driven in part by the longer-than-expected construction related to Hartford's ongoing $25 million Intermodal Triangle Project, which began in 2014 and has been widening sidewalks and promenades and realigning Gold Street.
Originally slated for a late 2015 completion, work was delayed after nearby condo residents sued the city over the project, which is now slated for “substantial completion” by Dec. 30, according to Michael Looney, the city's director of projects.
Maffucci said he's lost an estimated $400,000 in revenue since the beginning of the project, which has reduced parking in the area.
Vito's current location, leased from Alan Lazowski, CEO of Laz Parking, will close after Nov. 23. The new restaurant — to be called V's Trattoria, located in the ground-floor space formerly occupied by TD Bank — will open in about four months, Maffucci said, and be centered around a brick oven surrounded by a bar.
The 3,800-square-foot space, which will have lower rent and a captive audience of nearly 3,000 people plus the potential for additional business from Hartford Stage, located directly across the street, is significantly smaller than Maffucci's current location, which is about 6,800 square feet. He said the overhead costs of running a relatively large space, as well as rising food prices and narrowing margins, are also factors in his decision to move.
His new landlord, Grunberg Realty, is also paying for a major renovation, which will include a new commercial kitchen.
”We're an amenity for their building,” he said.
Meanwhile, Maffucci's adjacent Vito's to Go takeout restaurant is expected to be open by month's end in a separate space in the 280 Trumbull lobby.
He said some of his 25 employees will transfer to the new Vito's to Go location, while most of the others will work at his Windsor establishment, Vito's by the Water. Several have left but he expects to have 30 employed at 280 Trumbull when everything is open.
Maffucci, who owns restaurants and catering businesses in Windsor, South Windsor and Wethersfield, sees the new Hartford location as a chance to start from scratch. He predicts a revamped menu, giving him the ability to compete with some of the newer restaurants in the Front Street district.
“Having a blank canvass to work from is really an exciting thing,” he said last week at his longtime 26 Trumbull St. location.
– Matt Pilon
