Joe’s Restaurant, located at 602 West Buffalo Street, Ithaca, NY is re-opening! James "Jamie" Ciaschi III and his wife Heather purchased Joe’s Restaurant and will begin extensive renovations beginning in November of 2005. Jamie and Heather each have a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management in addition to many years of experience with large corporations in the food service industry. They decided to return to Ithaca to raise their 3 children and pursue a dream of owning their own restaurant. How does that sound for a balance of life!! Jamie Ciaschi comes from a family of restaurateurs in the Ithaca area. His grandfather James "Big Jim" Ciaschi Sr owned the Villa Restaurant (now Pangea) in the late 1950s, Big Jim's Bar and Carryout from 1950 to 1967 and founded the Char Pit Restaurant (now Lucatelli's) in 1967. Jamie’s father James Ciaschi Jr spent his career working with his father "Big Jim" in the family business and later owned the Char Pit Restaurant until he sold it in 1984.
Joe's will remain an Italian Restaurant as it has since 1932 with few changes to the menu. The Executive Chef (Theodore Tomandl) and Sous Chef (Michael Orlando) are both graduates of the prestigious Johnson and Wales University- School of Culinary Arts in Providence, Rhode Island. Each has extensive experience with Italian cooking in high volume restaurants. They will be featuring 2 to 3 of their own specialties each night in addition to the famous Joe’s menu. The old decor will be replaced with warm Tuscan colors, historic pictures of Ithaca from the 1930s – 1950s and music from that era featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett. We’ve also added a martini menu featuring 10 ounce specialty martinis such as the "cosmopolitan martini", "chocolate martini", "peach martini" and many others. The grand opening is planned for late December, 2005. The restaurant’s website (www.joesithaca.com) will be launched in mid November and will include our contact information, menu, chef bios, current news and directions.
Special thanks to Jeff Dobbin with the Tompkins Trust Company and Jim Conroy with the New York Business Development Corporation for providing the necessary funding for this project.
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