Pandemic-disrupted startup eateries now trying to re-heat
For restaurateurs Mark Cerreta and Peter Prizio, the concept of being in the right place at the wrong time has very special resonance.
Cerreta, joined by his brother Michael and business partner Julio Duque, found what they considered to be the perfect location for Za Pizza on Stratford”™s busy Barnum Avenue commercial corridor. Prizio, working with his business partner John Taxiltaridis, located their restaurant Metro in Fairfield”™s downtown shopping district on the Sanford Street connection between the Metro-North station and Post Road, with the Fairfield Theatre Co. as the next-door neighbor.
Neither was moving into territory that was unfamiliar to foodies: Metro had replaced Crave, another restaurant that Prizio operated in the same space for the previous five years, while Cerreta moved Za Pizza into a location formerly occupied by the pizza chain Little Caesars.
Both Za Pizza and Metro had grand openings that attracted television news cameras and their highly visible settings seemed to ensure they were on the road to success.
Alas, being in the right place was not enough for either eatery to defend itself against wrong timing. Both Za Pizza and Metro opened just as news of a strange virus was wreaking havoc in China and finding its way to other parts of the world.
“We had a grand opening and closing all within two weeks,” Prizio said. “We had the ribbon cutting in the beginning of March and we closed March 16.”
“We did a soft opening on February 10, and then March 10 we had a grand opening,” Cerreta said. “We had Sen. Richard Blumenthal here. We had the balloons up and we had a great day. And then the week after that we did free slices all day. We had all of Stratford High School here and we had lines out the door. Sales took off, but it only lasted two weeks.”
At first, Cerreta felt the pandemic would be a temporary crisis that would be over within four weeks and the eatery could continue with takeout and deliveries. But by mid-April, Cerreta and his partners acknowledged things weren”™t working.
“Boys were concerned to come into work,” he said. “We were concerned. We didn”™t know what was going on. We closed the doors in the middle of April and reopened five weeks later on May 20. And here we are today.”
At Metro, Prizio”™s focus on New American cuisine didn”™t quite lend itself to the abrupt shift to takeout and delivery.
“We”™re not exactly a takeout restaurant,” he said, “We did a lot of appetizers and sandwiches. We had a base of people coming in for a quick bite before going to the theater. People shopping downtown were able to come in and have a cocktail and a salad. We tried takeout, we did delivery, and some local businesses were trying to help us out.”
As with Cerreta, Prizio was forced to close Metro temporarily, reopening on May 20. But whereas the traffic flow on Stratford”™s Barnum Avenue kept Za Pizza in front of a stream of drive-by customers, Metro was mostly out of sight to most of its Fairfield audience ”” especially with far fewer commuters at the adjacent rail station and fewer shoppers downtown.
“It”™s been very quiet,” Prizio said. “Now, there”™s no train service, really ”” nobody”™s going to Manhattan. The theater company next door is closed. There are no universities in town. I”™ve never seen Fairfield like this.”
Since their respective reopenings, life has been more than a little challenging for the restaurateurs. For Prizio, Metro had to downsize its staff from roughly 30 to about a dozen. And while it has a few tables on a tiny outdoor patio, its dining room can only operate at 50% capacity.
“But you know, if people come it”™s a blessing,” he said.
Still, Prizio has some degree of good news ”” he also co-owns the seafood restaurant Boca in Bridgeport, whose spacious patio overlooking the Long Island Sound has been bringing in larger crowds than Metro has attracted to date.
For Cerreta, staffing involves 10 individuals working staggered shifts on a part-time basis. Cerreta”™s partner Duque, who ran his own pizza eatery in Southbury before taking charge of the Za Pizza kitchen, the pandemic protocol on face masks has not made his life more pleasant.
“Cooking all day wearing the mask is a little tougher, that”™s for sure,” Duque said. “Especially these last few days it”™s been so humid and hot.”