Billsman
January 9th, 2006, 11:39:38 AM
Plans to revive landmark restaurant take shape as group seeks to replicate it on Delaware Avenue
By SHARON LINSTEDT
News Staff Reporter
1/9/2006
A group of investors hopes to restore The Cloister on Delaware Avenue to what it was in its glory days in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was one of America's Top 100 restaurants.
The Cloister, a landmark Buffalo restaurant that closed in 1989, is poised for rebirth.
The Cloister Group, led by Buffalo attorney Peter J. Fiorella Jr., is hoping to bring the well-known dining spot, located at 472 Delaware Ave., back to life this fall.
"We're still in the exploration stages, but a significant amount of work has been done behind the scenes with the goal of re-creating what was one of Buffalo's greatest restaurants," Fiorella said.
The group envisions "replicating" nearly every aspect of the restaurant, from decor to key menu items.
"The signature dish at The Cloister was the prime rib. That will be back," Fiorella said. "We're also working to re-create everything from the chairs to the chandeliers. You'll feel like you stepped back in time."
Opened in 1964 by restaurateur James DiLapo, The Cloister earned a national reputation, with a spot on the list of the nation's Top 100 restaurants. Its location earned a key spot on the list of local landmarks because it was built on a site where writer Mark Twain lived from 1870 to 1871. The restaurant was constructed on the remaining foundation of Twain's Second Empire house, which was destroyed by fire in 1963.
After the restaurant closed in 1989, the building became the home of Business First and the Buffalo Law Journal until 2001. The structure has sat vacant for nearly five years.
Fiorella, who describes himself as "a longtime student of the restaurant business," has spent the past year plotting The Cloister's return. He has examined old photos in an attempt to re-create the well-known decor and managed to find sources for original and reproduced furnishings and fixtures for "97 percent" of what was in the old restaurant.
Among his favorite finds is a twin of the red, wheeled coffee grinder that sat in the main dining room. After spending months searching for what he thought was a water pump, he found the unusual item in a Southern Tier diner.
A lengthy search for the restaurant's massive, 52-inch crystal chandeliers ended in Belgium, where a factory still makes the same style light fixture. And he has located a company to reproduce a "slightly larger and much more comfortable" version of the mustard-yellow, French-style chairs that once graced The Cloister's Crystal Garden Dining Room.
"I guess I'm on a mission to get it all just right. I'll know we've done it if The Cloister's former patrons walk in and feel like they've stepped back in time," Fiorella said.
While plans are to re-create the former Carriage House, Greenhouse and Crystal dining rooms, the Cloister Group will deviate from the past in the restaurant's barroom. J's Lounge, a tribute to the restaurant's late owner, as well as piano man Jackie Jocko, who was a constant in the old Cloister bar, will feature a bandstand and tiered seating.
Fiorella envisions making the bar a showcase for local jazz talent, as well as an intimate stage for national acts.
He also has formed Wickwire Group LLC to work on financing for the restaurant project. Fiorella has secured some $800,000 of the $2 million he is trying to raise to make his dream a reality.
"We have $1.2 million to go, but I'm hopeful. Ideally, we'd like to find a single source for the rest, but we'll see what happens. Since we've started to talk publicly about the plan there's been quite a bit of interest in making it happen," Fiorella said.
The Wickwire and Cloister groups are working on the premise that Delaware Avenue, which was once the center of fine dining and entertainment in the city, can return to its glory days. Fiorella, who publishes Inside Politics WNY, a monthly political newsletter, is using his 2,500 readers as a test market for his Cloister dreams.
In the current edition, he outlined his restaurant plans and put readers on notice that they will be tapped to act as focus groups for his ideas.
"I doubt anybody's gone into the restaurant business this way before. It's a unique approach, but this is a unique project," he said.
By SHARON LINSTEDT
News Staff Reporter
1/9/2006
A group of investors hopes to restore The Cloister on Delaware Avenue to what it was in its glory days in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was one of America's Top 100 restaurants.
The Cloister, a landmark Buffalo restaurant that closed in 1989, is poised for rebirth.
The Cloister Group, led by Buffalo attorney Peter J. Fiorella Jr., is hoping to bring the well-known dining spot, located at 472 Delaware Ave., back to life this fall.
"We're still in the exploration stages, but a significant amount of work has been done behind the scenes with the goal of re-creating what was one of Buffalo's greatest restaurants," Fiorella said.
The group envisions "replicating" nearly every aspect of the restaurant, from decor to key menu items.
"The signature dish at The Cloister was the prime rib. That will be back," Fiorella said. "We're also working to re-create everything from the chairs to the chandeliers. You'll feel like you stepped back in time."
Opened in 1964 by restaurateur James DiLapo, The Cloister earned a national reputation, with a spot on the list of the nation's Top 100 restaurants. Its location earned a key spot on the list of local landmarks because it was built on a site where writer Mark Twain lived from 1870 to 1871. The restaurant was constructed on the remaining foundation of Twain's Second Empire house, which was destroyed by fire in 1963.
After the restaurant closed in 1989, the building became the home of Business First and the Buffalo Law Journal until 2001. The structure has sat vacant for nearly five years.
Fiorella, who describes himself as "a longtime student of the restaurant business," has spent the past year plotting The Cloister's return. He has examined old photos in an attempt to re-create the well-known decor and managed to find sources for original and reproduced furnishings and fixtures for "97 percent" of what was in the old restaurant.
Among his favorite finds is a twin of the red, wheeled coffee grinder that sat in the main dining room. After spending months searching for what he thought was a water pump, he found the unusual item in a Southern Tier diner.
A lengthy search for the restaurant's massive, 52-inch crystal chandeliers ended in Belgium, where a factory still makes the same style light fixture. And he has located a company to reproduce a "slightly larger and much more comfortable" version of the mustard-yellow, French-style chairs that once graced The Cloister's Crystal Garden Dining Room.
"I guess I'm on a mission to get it all just right. I'll know we've done it if The Cloister's former patrons walk in and feel like they've stepped back in time," Fiorella said.
While plans are to re-create the former Carriage House, Greenhouse and Crystal dining rooms, the Cloister Group will deviate from the past in the restaurant's barroom. J's Lounge, a tribute to the restaurant's late owner, as well as piano man Jackie Jocko, who was a constant in the old Cloister bar, will feature a bandstand and tiered seating.
Fiorella envisions making the bar a showcase for local jazz talent, as well as an intimate stage for national acts.
He also has formed Wickwire Group LLC to work on financing for the restaurant project. Fiorella has secured some $800,000 of the $2 million he is trying to raise to make his dream a reality.
"We have $1.2 million to go, but I'm hopeful. Ideally, we'd like to find a single source for the rest, but we'll see what happens. Since we've started to talk publicly about the plan there's been quite a bit of interest in making it happen," Fiorella said.
The Wickwire and Cloister groups are working on the premise that Delaware Avenue, which was once the center of fine dining and entertainment in the city, can return to its glory days. Fiorella, who publishes Inside Politics WNY, a monthly political newsletter, is using his 2,500 readers as a test market for his Cloister dreams.
In the current edition, he outlined his restaurant plans and put readers on notice that they will be tapped to act as focus groups for his ideas.
"I doubt anybody's gone into the restaurant business this way before. It's a unique approach, but this is a unique project," he said.