Iona College officials on Thursday announced plans to open a community restaurant and market in a 5,000-square-foot commercial space on the ground floor of the private Catholic college”™s new seven-story residence hall at 690 North Ave.
SAGE Café as proposed will include a 3,000-square-foot restaurant featuring contemporary intercontinental cuisine and a 2,000-square-foot gourmet market and bakery. Iona officials said the commercial venture takes its name from the Mediterranean herb associated with wisdom, “a play on words that is appropriate for a college setting.”
If approved by New Rochelle city officials, the restaurant and market will open on the redeveloped site of the former Mirage Diner, a popular North Avenue fixture that the college bought in 2014 and tore down at the start of construction of the 310-student dormitory building in 2015. The hall opened for students last August.
“Iona College is excited to move forward on a commitment we made several years ago to provide the community with a casual, convenient and contemporary dining destination,” said Anne Marie Schettini-Lynch, senior vice president for finance and administration at Iona, in the announcement. “With the SAGE Café, we are not only delivering on our pledge but complementing our other broad-based efforts to beautify North Avenue, add to its commercial base and provide needed on-campus housing for our students.”
