Two new Italian restaurants on tap in Old Port
Salt and Pavilion spaces to be reborn
Pasta fanatics have cause to rejoice: two new Italian restaurants are expected to open in the Old Port this spring.
Chef Harding Lee Smith, proprietor of The Front Room on Munjoy Hill and The Grill Room on Exchange Street, is readying to open The Corner Room in the first floor of the upper Exchange Street building formerly occupied by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Smith said the new eatery will serve Italian-inspired cuisine.
A few blocks away on Middle Street, former Prost/Onyx proprietor Ryan Byther is preparing to open Luna Rossa in the space best known as the former home of The Pavilion. The restaurant will occupy the right-hand side of the first floor and the entire mezzanine level, where Byther plans to offer low-key entertainment, like dueling pianos.
Last fall, The Bollard reported plans to turn the old Pavilion space into a micro-mall. Real estate broker Steve Baumann said there are still retailers interested in the remaining first-floor space, including a large furniture retailer, though Byther has expressed interest in leasing the entire area.
— Chris Busby
