Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The restaurant is enjoying a soft opening.
Talk about a long wait for dinner. After nearly a year and a half, Ferraro's, the landmark restaurant located on Elm Street in Westfield, is back in business. Sherry Cronin, executive director of the Downtown Westfield Corporation, confirmed that the cooks are back in the kitchen as of Tuesday evening. "It's a soft opening but they're open," Cronin said. A six-alarm fire gutted the Italian eatery in May of 2011. During the interim, loyal customers could find Ferraro's favorites at its Summit outpost, Anna's, named for the family matriarch, or at Ferraro's South. Cronin said mama Anna is at the restaurant tonight and eagerly greeting customers. Earlier this month, chef Guiseppe DiPietro told Patch he will have his regular staff at the …
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The landmark restaurant will celebrate its reopening soon.
As Ferraro's restaurant gears up for its eagerly-anticipated reopening, the Elm Street eatery is hiring. Chef Guiseppe DiPietro said he and his crew will be back in the kitchen but they are looking for additional help. "We dispersed between Anna's (the Summit outpost named for the family's matriarch) and Ferraro's South," said DiPietro. "We'll be bringing everybody back. We also just placed an ad on Craigslist and we're looking for busboys, waiters, you name it." Those interested can also complete the online application, available through the restaurant's website. While DiPietro was unable to confirm an opening date when he spoke with Patch in late August, he said rebuilding is coming along "great." In early May 2011, a six-alarm blaze …
40.65051
-74.34793
Ferraro's
14 Elm St, Westfield, NJ
/articles/westfield-s-ferraro-s-now-hiring
9439
/locations/7712008
Monday, March 12, 2012
Owners of the Elm Street eatery expect to celebrate its grand reopening in June.
The much-anticipated reopening of Westfield's landmark restaurant Ferraro's should be less than three months away, according to co-owner and executive chef Guiseppe DiPietro. "We're looking at opening June 1st," said DiPietro. "Once the contractors are done, we obviously need a couple of weeks of work to get situated." The Italian eatery, a staple for more than four decades, was expected to open in April after being shuttered for nearly a year following a six-alarm blaze that destroyed the building last May. But DiPietro explained "construction has been back and forth" and the family wants to make sure everything is "done right" before opening. "We want to move fast but we don't want to make any mistakes," DiPietro said. Plans for a …
40.65051
-74.34793
Ferraro's
14 Elm St, Westfield, NJ
/articles/ferraro-s-anticipates-opening-june-1
9439
/locations/6557786
40.649713
-74.341034
Ferraro's South
425 S Elmer St, Westfield, NJ
/articles/ferraro-s-anticipates-opening-june-1
10573
/locations/6557787
Friday, August 19, 2011
Planning Board approves revised plans, brings landmark restaurant one step closer to return
A friend hugged Ferraro’s executive chief Giuseppe DiPietro in the lobby outside council chambers at town hall late last night, offering a warm embrace after what had been another long evening during what has been a stressful summer. “Good days are ahead,” he told him. More than three hours after presenting a revised proposal to the Planning Board, and more than three months after watching its storied downtown restaurant be destroyed in a fire, good days and lively nights are once again on the horizon for the Ferraro family. The Planning Board unanimously approved Palmiro Ferraro, Inc.’s application for reconstruction of a three-story building on its downtown property Thursday night. The three-hour meeting was less contentious – though at …
Thursday, August 18, 2011
New plan still includes three-story restaurant, now with an expanded ground floor
Does bigger mean better? We’ll find out tonight. The plans for rebuilding the new Ferraro’s restaurant actually appear to be larger than the plans the company presented to the Planning Board on July 18, when a hearing on the matter unraveled before the board delayed consideration and before the family-owned restaurant could introduce its third and final witness. The follow-up hearing, originally scheduled for August 1, was then postponed as the company revised its plans for rebuilding the landmark restaurant that was destroyed in a six-alarm fire on May 5. The new plans, to be presented tonight at a special meeting before the Planning Board, still include a three-story restaurant while also expanding the ground floor of the restaurant …
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Restaurant scrapped plans presented in July, will now present before Planning Board on August 18
“Make sure it’s appropriately small,” Robert Newell told an applicant appearing before the Planning Board Monday night. Newell was referring to the size of a delivery sign light proposed for use on the property of ACL Real Estate on 50 Cardinal Drive He could have been describing the meeting itself. During a night that was originally scheduled to feature the sequel – and perhaps the conclusion – of the plans to rebuild Ferraro’s, the board instead tackled the comparatively mundane matters of adjusting sign heights and changing building facades. The suspense – and audience – that had packed the same room two weeks earlier was glaringly absent. On July 18, the board heard testimony regarding the rebuilding of the storied Italian restaurant …
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Ferraro's
14 Elm St, Westfield, NJ
/articles/ferraros-hearing-delayed-pending-new-design
9439
/locations/4990461
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Board needs time to clarify "new information"
The process leading up to the rebuilding of the storied Ferraro’s and the new proposed building itself seem to have at least one characteristic in common: They may both be much bigger than many originally anticipated. Palmiro Ferraro, Inc. revealed plans at a special meeting of the Planning Board Monday night to build a new, three-story restaurant on the Elm Street property where its previous popular Italian restaurant was destroyed in a six-alarm fire on May 5. The company sought the board’s approval for three variances from the Land Use Ordinance in order to build its larger-scale restaurant, among them being rules regarding off-street parking spaces, sign height requirements and rear-yard setback space. But after more than two hours of …
40.65051
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Ferraro's
14 Elm St, Westfield, NJ
/articles/planning-board-delays-consideration-of-new-three-story-ferraros
9439
/locations/4888025
Friday, May 27, 2011
Lemonade stands remain out all weekend.
With crowds jamming Kehler Stadium Saturday for the annual Lacrosse Day, there were two options for refreshment. In addition to the popular snack stand in the stadium complex, a group was outside of the adjacent Lincoln School selling lemonade, baked goods and other snacks. The lemonade stand fundraisers for the apartment victims of the Ferraro's fire remained in full force over the weekend, with the fundraisers reporting strong business as the weather warms up. The two stands were started by Sarah and Hayley Kasko in front of Lincoln School and Jason and Kaila Starita in front of their Lawrence Avenue home. The Staritas said business remained steady over the last two weekends, with cars stopping in front of their home after turning off of…
40.639981
-74.342576
Lincoln School Early Childhood Learning Center
728 Westfield Ave, Westfield, NJ
/articles/fundraising-continues-for-fire-victims
10232
/locations/4404534
40.66767
-74.36717
1175 Lawrence Ave, Westfield, NJ
/articles/fundraising-continues-for-fire-victims
/locations/4404535
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Preliminary clean-up work done on Wednesday, family to meet with town officials Thursday.
With part of Elm Street blocked off for construction vehicles Wednesday, work on the renovation of fire ravaged Ferraro’s has taken steps forward. Giuseppe DiPietro, a member of the Ferraro family and chef at the restaurant, confirmed that Wednesday’s work was to remove some debris to allow the family and insurance adjusters to access parts of the restaurant, which was destroyed during a six-alarm fire on May 5, which has been deemed as caused undetermined, according to Deputy Fire Chief David Kelly. The front-end loader was seen removing some equipment. “There were parts of the restaurant we wanted to get to that we couldn’t,” DiPietro said. He said the insurance company wanted to account for the contents of the restaurant, along with …
40.65051
-74.34793
Ferraro's
14 Elm St, Westfield, NJ
/articles/ferraros-rebuilding-process-starting
9439
/locations/4437965
Jason Alexander
11:31 pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013
This building is a monstrosity. The Ferraros buildings have been getting progressively tackier with each renovation. I am counting the days (decades, potentially) until this blight on our town is torn down. more ›