I mentioned that I heard there was a new pizza place coming to 16th and Q by someone from Italy. Here is an article in the Bee today with more information, including a new Italian clothing store.
6 Degrees Boutique also opened a few months ago virtually across the street on 16th between Q and R St.
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By Bob Shallit - Bee Columnist
Last Updated 6:04 am PDT Monday, July 30, 2007
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page D3
Pizzas and polos: Andrea Lepore loves Italian food. And Italian clothes.
Which explains why she's partnering in a new venture that combines both.
Hot Italian, a restaurant-boutique, is opening next year at the former site of Young's Fireside Shop at 16th and Q in midtown Sacramento.
The idea is to have "quick gourmet" food in one part of the L-shaped building, sportswear ("from $20 hats to $400 leather jackets") in the other.
Isn't that an odd pairing of retail services? It's a new concept here, Lepore agrees, "but there are a lot of places in Europe that do it."
Her partner in the venture is Fabrizio Cercatore, a chef from the Italian coastal town of LaSpezia. An exterior makeover of the building will be done by property owner Glenn Sorensen, a member of the Loftworks development team.
This is the second restaurant venture for Lepore, who ran a sports marketing business and dabbled in publishing before deciding to concentrate on development. Her first? She's an investor in the L Wine Lounge & Urban Kitchen at 18th and l streets.
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10 comments:
What a stupid Idea.
Actually 6 degrees just reopened a few weeks ago. They were shut down because it opened without permits. Glad to see it did not shut them down for good. I Like that another shop is opening down the street from 6 degrees though. Also, I am happy that something unique is opening instead of some generic resturant/business. I don't know how another pizza/Italian place
will do with Pronto/Uncle Vito's two blocks away, but its great to see something finally going into the former Young's Fireside spot.
Zen
What do you think is stupid about the idea? Italian food by a chef actually from Italy? A business selling clothes in the same location? Diffent yes, different can be good though.
With regrd to Pronto/Uncle Vito's, the food will do the talking in the end.
I like Vito's hole in the wall feel and that its open late with pretty good pizza and beer on tap. Pronto is okay, but nothing all that great to me. I do dig the Gelato though.
I hope the "quick gourmet" serves some good real homemade mom and pop Italian food. Pronto doesn't do that very well to me.
As has been probably been said before, when you get these diverse white elephant-type businesses, you're onto something from an urban standpoint.
This goes into the category with Grand Wines, Mochii, Revolution Wines, Old Soul, and Le Petit Paris. These are businesses that Des Moines, IA cannot support. However, "real cities" (such as New York and SF) are rife with these gems.
Maybe it will fail. Maybe it's stupid. But kudos for having the guts to open something besides a coffee shop, nail salon, or dry cleaners over there. And kudos to Sac for having the requisite environment to support it.
Brilliant idea. If the food is good, it will bring people into the shop. That will bring a lot more people under the transom than just a boutique alone. Now, the big question is: How do you get those red sauce stains out of the inventory?
Yeah, what Moab said about stains.
If I had a bunch of $$ to put into a restaurant right now, I'd seriously consider a gourmet pizza by the slice place somewhere downtown. There are a few places, like the mall, where you can get mediocre pizza by the slice, but not the good stuff.
Maybe I'll combine it with a men's clothier selling only white things.
yeah, that's always my main concern about combination food/retail stores: staining the inventory. I guess they have a system worked out, or they're only going to sell northern Italian food.
Yeah it's gotta be northern italian. You can't have a big ol baked canneloni and then go try on some tight designer denim.... well you can, but it ain't gonna fit the same later.
And good point 3rd anonymous, about the urban entrepreneurial ingenuity. Although this place may end up an awkward mix of food and fashion, it's cool that someone's trying to bring something new to the table. After all, there are plenty of franchises that all but ensure mild success, yet lack even a thread of originality.
This sounds very cool. I've been to LaSpezia (right next to Cinque Terre), and the pizza there is pretty different than anything in Sacramento right now. I don't think I'll be purchasing any "sportswear", but I don't really buy clothes.
I really like 3rd anonymous's comment about businesses only a "real city" can support.
Good to hear, Daniel. Seems like a few pizza places are hitting the grid soon, so the more different from one another the better.
Chicago Fire is going to J and 25thish...and from what I have heard Louie's Chicago Style Pizza in Rocklin is looking to relocate into the grid as well. There pizza is really really good, but they aren't finding much success in the burbs.
Also on this topic, I heard they will be open first quarter of next year. So it sounds like it will happen quick.
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