Bruce the Blog

We all know about the economy, if for no other reason than the so-called Mainstream Media keeps telling us how grim it is, with occasional lapses into irrational optimism, or so it would seem. (For the record, North County News is not Mainstream Media. Main Street Media is more like it.)

Make no mistake. There are businesses around here that are suffering right now, and we hope they get relief as soon as possible.

At the same time, others are opening businesses. Our Business Beat section in the North County News issue of September 10 reports on newly opened Peekskill Brewery. It’s always encouraging to see local commerce reinvent itself, and not just because it supports the structural integrity of the tax base. even if it is one enterprise at a time. In Yorktown, there are several examples, we’re pleased to report.

At Yorktown’s monthly Chamber of Commerce networking mixer on Monday, September 8, expansively hosted by Roxanne Innerfield of Joe Visconti of RGI Properties, with barbecue catered lip-smackingly by Colonial Terrace, John Chiazzese was introduced as a new Chamber member. He’s just opened Throggs Neck Jewelers in Underhill Plaza, home of Chamber members like Party Celebrations, Mimi’s, Country Florist and State Farm Insurance. John and family’s flagship location is on Tremont Avenue in The Bronx, and many locals are devoted customers of his brother Rosario’s barbershop in The Triangle.

Up the road from Chase Media Group headquarters on Front Street is another retail arrival, aptly named Up Front, A Clothing Boutique for Men & Women. On Commerce Street in the strip mall across from that omnipresent coffee chain is Southside Inn, a tavern and eatery at the former site of Coachlight Inn. We expect to report on its opening very soon.

Another place starting to cause a buzz is Miracles Bar & Grill in Brookside Park on Kear Street. It is situated just below Murphy’s Restaurant (on Route 118), and a stone’s throw in the other direction from Finnegan’s, both of which have developed very loyal followings, particularly among the younger crowd. Around the corner on Underhill is The Heights, a popular bistro for those who prefer the quieter, more leisurely taste of nouvele cuisine.

A recent evening en route home from our Front Street offices, I noticed that Miracles was fully lit inside, the first time I glimpsed its furnishings, so I pulled in the parking lot and moseyed over to the entrance, which faces the rear of the parking lot, looking toward Underhill Avenue.

Inside was a handsomely well-done, blonde-wood decor and two guys who are rarin’ to go: Miracles proprietors Jimmy Bobolakis, owner of Brookside Park, the commercial building that houses the restaurant, and Nick Halampalakis, the 32-year-old managing partner raised by a family of chefs, and who attended the famed Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park.

Projecting a smart ambience that’s at once classy, cool and casual, Miracles fills the two spaces once inhabited by Italian gourmet deli A Taste of Italy and Maria’s Restaurant, which for a very short time after closing turned into Viansa Restaurant. Both spaces have been vacant for an extended period, but sometime in October, Miracles should be open for business, according to the two partners. Once their liquor license is in hand, they will seek town board approval of a cabaret license for live music performances. We can’t imagine why the town board would not approve it. Both Murphy’s and The Heights on occasion offer live music, and Yorktown still has a long way to go to emulate the rich cultural offerings of nearby music mecca Peekskill.

Nick, whose affable, enthusiastic personality is well suited to working the front of the house, as he intends to do, describes his menu as more upscale than comparable establishments, but also reasonably priced, with a range of entrees anywhere from $13, say for a salad, to $60, for a surf-and-turf of filet mignon and lobster tail.

He and his partner Jimmy emphasize all provisions will be purchased and delivered daily to the kitchen, which is impressively spacious and, to my eye, state-of-the-art. A see-through portal in the main dining area will afford patrons full view of food preparation in the kitchen.

Upon entering the 175-seat restaurant, there is a bar and booths, with a flat screen TV perched above what seemed like every booth. There also are giant screens above the bar and in the main dining room.

The partners are aiming for a somewhat different mix of customers than frequent the neighboring tavern restaurants, noting their concept is to recreate the good-time dining-and-music milieu popularized in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Let the kids have their hangouts, they seem to be saying. Miracles is aiming for a client base that skews older, populated by mature adults and families. In the evenings when music is scheduled, Nick says he hopes to keep the kitchen open until 11:00 p.m.

If it sounds like he and Jimmy are trying to import a Manhattanesque night-out to the North County, at suburban prices, I say, bring it on! It’s about time. I’m there. And I know a lot of others who will be too.