“We are saying goodbye for now to Utica’s favorite Italian restaurant,” read a Facebook post on Jan. 19 appearing on the page of Nostro Restobar + Lounge (Nostro) at 268 Genesee Street, Utica – a passionate restoration of the Oneida National Bank Building announcing the closing of the elegant, expansive eatery quickly famed for no less than transporting diners with authentic, native Italian cuisine and culture.
Responses streamed down from the surprise announcement, calling out favorite dishes, begging to know what folks might find on sister-restaurant, Ocean Blue Restaurant & Oyster Bar’s (Ocean Blue) menu, and sharing sadness at the loss of the place where people went to celebrate, as Nostro’s post proclaimed, “Five years of date nights, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, graduations, and all of life’s celebrations—big and small,” since opening their doors on July 16, 2021.
To their fans, the venue assured gratefully, “we have loved every single moment.”
Timing of Nostro cursed by Covid
Nostro and Commonwealth Restaurant Concepts (Commonwealth) owner Francis Pezzolanella anticipated a March 2020 grand opening, which was completely curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
After “a few moments” where the anxious owner – monitoring the rise and fall of new cases – thought it might be time, he decided to wait until the coast was Covid-clear for his unique concept, to open “a contemporary Italian restaurant build around food, drinks and human interaction.”
As America reopened its doors, Nostro opened theirs for the first time on Jul. 16, 2021, to a concept designed pre-Covid in a post-Covid world. Like the world had changed, Nostro too would adapt to unfamiliar times. They worked to conceive of “different ways to run this restaurant.”
“Get creative, tweak the menu to make it work even better for this type of environment,” said Pezzolanella in an article about Nostro’s opening in 2021. “We didn’t know what we were going to open back up to.”
One creative approach sampled the serving of “flights” of locally crafted beers and wines at area breweries and wineries. Nostro named its version the “Arsenale,” everything they had. It was intended to encourage American diners to try dishes so authentic to Italy they may never have heard of, let alone tasted them.
Like Nostro itself, it was a hit.
‘Love letter to Nostro’
Pezzolanella promises that that menu at Ocean Blue – one of two other Utica venues owned and operated under the umbrella of Commonwealth, headquartered at the Oneida National Building – will be updated to include Nostro favorites.
Pezzolanella will be “adding an entire category of Nostro items including but not limited to our pastas, chicken parmigiana, meringue cake as well as all the cocktails.”
In “the coming days, we intend to release an additional à la carte menu at Ocean Blue,” teased Pezzolanella, “titled ‘a love letter from Nostro.’”
The Nostro owner also assured regulars that “all of the staff have already transitioned to working at Rick’s and/or Ocean Blue” for Nostro-goers who were as much fans of their favorite servers as they were their go-to dishes.
Preserving historic spaces while putting them to 21st Century new use
The Oneida National Bank Building, located in a City of Utica designated “Scenic and Historic District,” won its charter in 1865, when the region was roaring with success galvanized by the industrial revolution and its situation on the Erie Canal, a revolutionary approach to transportation conceived and commenced in Oneida County.
It continued to house banking institutions for over 100 years, into the 21st Century, with its final financial tenant being Bank of America. Pezzolanella won an $800K Empire State Development Grant in 2019 to support his multi-million-dollar transformation of the old bank into a new dining adventure ushering diners into old-world Italy, all while preserving the original architecture of the historic structure.
It was the restauranteur’s second transformation of a downtown Utica bank monument into a mixed used restaurant destination, having reimagined having reimagined the Citizen’s Trust Company building, built in 1915, better remembered now as the former Marine Midland Bank building at 118 Columbia (formerly 520 Seneca) Street into what locals now known as the “Landmarc Building.”
Where Nostro created curb appeal, Ocean Blue is perched in the penthouse of the downtown denizen, Utica’s only rooftop restaurant/bar, dazzling drinkers and diners with majestic views of the Mohawk River Valley rising up over the tip of the historic downtown silhouette. Pezzolanella and his father, Michael, rescued the blighted banking bulwark almost literally from the chopping block, purchasing it in 2013 for $1000.
Then Mayor of Utica Robert Palmieri called the ambitious father-son developers a “catalyst” for reemerging city, hope at that time that Utica was a “city rising again” as manifest in “what they have done with that building.”
Pezzolanella’s third Utica eatery, Rick’s Famous Juicy Burgers opened just six months ahead of Nostro in Jan., 2021 at 421 Broad Street, once home to the historic Bagg’s Square Cafe. The modestly priced vintage burger joint joins Commonwealth’s other shingles in its fidelity to Utica’s historic built environment, preserving original and evolved elements, while putting it to new use.
“It feels like you’re in your grandmother’s basement,” Pezzolanella described Rick’s decor for an article covering its anticipated opening.
When commenting on the restoration of the Landmarc Building, Pezzolanella proclaimed, “our plans are to change the downtown area and the region.”
Next ‘new use’ for the historic space that is the Oneida National Building
Nostro’s farewell Facebook ode forecasts that Commonwealth is “reimagining our space into something fresh and exciting.”
“Nostro was envisioned prior to the pandemic,” said Pezzolanella. “We’ve decided to make our next project more suited to this new dining landscape.”
Promised Pezzolanella, who stopped short of a hint at how, “we have every intention to make the next establishment as unique as Nostro.”
Meanwhile, the local restauranteur and his Nostro team concluded their social media bow to say…
“Thank you for being part of our story—we’ll see you soon with something new! Buona notte.”
Translate … “good night.”
NOTE: Commonwealth will honor all Nostro gift cards at both Ocean Blue and Rick’s. Holders who prefer a refund can click to contact them https://nostrorestobar.com/contact-us/ to arrange.
Dining and Cooking