‘Candy lady’ Cantavero’s Greenwich shop to be reborn as cafe

BY ROBERT MARCHANT
Hearst Connecticut Media

A local landmark in Riverside where generations of youngsters satisfied their sweet tooths is getting a major makeover.

When Ada”™s Kitchen and Coffee reopens in the spring, it will hold rows of candy similar to the kind that its former proprietor, Ada Cantavero, traded for pennies and nickels before her death in 2008 at age 88.

The store on RiversideAvenue had been operating as a deli, but its age was beginning to take a toll. The structure dates to the late 1800s, and its long history includes a stint as the Riverside Post Office. A renovation of the old house began this summer.

“It will be reborn,” said Ron Romaniello, who owns the building with several other family members related to Ada Cantavero. “We’re going to bring it back and preserve as much of the history there as we can. It’s quite a project.”

On a recent afternoon, a backhoe was carving out soil around the building as workers toiled in the mostly gutted interior.

“There’s rot and natural decay from that aging,” Romaniello said. The building’s utilities were sorely out of date. Much of the exterior features of the structure were deteriorating.

But not for long.

Contractor Jeff DeLuca said the look and feel of the old building, including its distinct gingerbread shingles, peaked roof and columns, would be preserved and enhanced. “We’re saving everything we could; we’re trying to keep it in the old style,” he said.

Gus Cantavero, a nephew of Ada Cantavero who is working on some of the excavation, recalled his aunt as a woman with a kind soul and a fondness for youngsters. “She was here forever. All the kids knew her, getting their candy after school. Very well-liked,” he said.

One of her best-known phrases was: “Take your time, hon.” Many a youthful runaway was later found at her place of business, officially the Riverside Variety Shop. Especially popular with students at the nearby Riverside School and Eastern Middle School, it offered an afternoon treat and a respite from the demands of the classroom. Ada Cantavero was once named Citizen of the Year by the local PTA and serenaded by the Riverside School band. The store also dished up food and coffee for workers in the neighborhood.

Romaniello said it was too early to disclose the operator who would run the new business when it opens this spring, since contracts have not been finalized. The goal is to offer fresh-baked goods, high-end coffee and sandwiches to entice commuters and local residents. There will be a counter full of sweets and confections that will pay tribute to a woman known as “the candy lady” who worked there for more than 50 years.

A neighbor, John Linsenmeyer, said he liked the idea of the local business gaining a new lease on life.

“My kids and grandkids patronized it,” he said. “That place has been an institution. What inspired me was how uncommonly patient Ada was.” Linsenmeyer recalled the candy lady never hurried customers, who often deliberated over the choice of candy as if the world depended on it, then paid for the treats with pennies, dimes, nickels and a grade-schooler’s grasp of arithmetic.

Once completed, Romaniello hopes that locals, young and old, will find favor with the new business. In particular, he has one person he hopes to please ”“ his late aunt. “If she could come back, I think she’d be pleased,” he said. “We are carrying on the old tradition.”

Hearst Connecticut Media includes four daily newspapers: Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, The Advocate (Stamford) and The News Times (Danbury.) See greenwichtime.com for more from this reporter.