This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
04/26/2016 12:00 AMLisa Dockus hopes that when DeNovellis moves into its newest location on the shoreline, the curse of The Hungry Lion will be lifted at last.
An established Rocky Hill eatery specializing in northern Italian fare, DeNovellis is opening a second restaurant at 192 East Main Street in Clinton, a corner spot where more than half a dozen restaurants have closed over the last 20 years.
Most recently it was the home of Roma Di Notte, an Italian restaurant that shut its doors in the fall of 2015.
“Roma Di Notte had been open for only about a year,” said Ryan Grenon, a registered sanitarian for the Connecticut River Area Health District, which manages code compliance for food services and other public establishments in Clinton, Old Saybrook, and Deep River. (Grenon is Clinton’s former town sanitarian.)
Before that, Grenon recalls, it was Ortega’s Mexican Restaurant (from 2011 to 2013); Maru Sushi, a Japanese restaurant that closed briefly and reopened as Maru Lite in 2008; Happy Jack’s; Harpoon Louie’s in the early 2000s; and the restaurant for which the location is perhaps best remembered, The Hungry Lion.
Referring to the latest in a string of failures on the crowd-sourced review site Yelp.com, one Yelper wrote, “The curse of the Hungry Lion strikes again. CLOSED. I think when the Hungry Lion restaurant closed they put a curse on this building that no other business will be successful in this spot. Chinese restaurant. Mexican restaurant. Now Italian restaurant. All closed. Roaaar! The Lion strikes again.”
Despite what seems to be a jinxed address, Dockus, the general manager of DeNovellis, said the new restaurant owners are optimistic about coming to Clinton and have been busy renovating the space.
“The interior facelift is almost complete, and it’s beautiful. As far as getting the restaurant ready, it will soon be about inventory, hiring, and training kitchen and front-of-the-house staff.”
On April 11, the owners applied for a special exception from the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission to allow outdoor seating. They are also planning to take down the iconic sign that has stood in front of every restaurant since The Hungry Lion and replace it with something new.
“The last successful restaurant in that location,” said Dockus, “was The Hungry Lion.”
According to the town assessor’s office, The Hungry Lion was owned by Mase Luciano and had a solid run from around 1990 to 1999. Prior to that, from 1985 to 1990, it was Luciano’s Boathouse—a different restaurant under the same ownership.
“Ironically the structure of the sign that’s coming down, which is over 30 years old, was from the Hungry Lion,” said Dockus, “and I have come across some memorabilia from that restaurant.”
Indeed, as recently as April 10, a Hungry Lion matchbook—featuring a graphic of a rotary phone, the restaurant’s phone number without an area code, and a picture of a humanlike lion figure squatting and clutching a fork and a knife in each fist—sold on eBay for $3.99.
“Rumors say that the building is cursed, and this seems be why nothing is successful there,” said Dockus.
The DeNovellis family, she said, plans to end the losing streak.
“Enzo DeNovellis and his family have been in business in Rocky Hill for over 10 years. They are very much about family and the community.”
Enzo DeNovellis was born in the Abbruzzo region of Italy and moved to the United States when he was eight. He grew up in the restaurant business, and his Rocky Hill location has won the Chamber of Commerce Best Restaurant award six times since 2008.
“His menu from Rocky Hill will be coming to the shoreline,” said Dockus, adding that the family hopes to open before Memorial Day weekend, in time to greet the summer crowds.
The menu at DeNovellis is extensive and includes pizza, pasta, grinders, salad, and steak, as well as Italian-style chicken, veal, and seafood dishes. There is also a children’s menu.