Friday, November 16, 2012
The restaurant opened last week at University and Main.
A search for warm comfort food took us to Mamma Mia Tuscan Grille on a cold autumn night this week. Their soft opening last Thursday was so soft you may have missed it altogether, but the town's newest Italian restaurant is officially open for business in the location formerly occupied by Fortesa. The space has been remodeled and brightened up from its last occupants. The wine room with the capacity to eventually hold 1,000 bottles of wine remains; there's also executive chef Derek Murray, formerly of Fortesa. Mamma Mia is owned by the same corporation that owns Paint Creek Tavern. Having a sister restaurant right next door comes in handy while working out the kinks of a new business, like how to fill that order for chocolate milk. …
42.682674
-83.133828
543 N Main St, Rochester, MI
/articles/downtown-s-new-mamma-mia-offers-pure-italian-comfort
/locations/8150173
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
His family once owned the Chapman House, and now Jonathan McGowen is the creative mind at Refined.
It was once the brightest building in downtown Rochester, but now Refined Home is a little more, well, refined. And it's not just a paint job—turning the hot pink house on Fourth Street to taupe—that has changed about the home decor business. The shop has a new owner, though he's not new to town. Jonathan McGowen may have spent the past 10 years in California but he's home now and he says "there's no place like it." McGowen's family once owned The Chapman House; he ran the retail side of it from 1993 to 2002. Work took him to the West Coast, but it was family that brought him back. "I came home to take care of my sick dad," McGowen said. "He was so pleased to know that The Chapman House will be enjoyed by the public and continue to be used…
42.68072
-83.1329
Refined Home
116 E 4th St, Rochester, MI
/articles/refined
1346842
/locations/8138562
Saturday, November 10, 2012
A former manager of downtown Rochester's Mind, Body & Spirits takes over the Oakland Township landmark, expanding the menu and staying open for business all year-round.
They hear it a lot at Paint Creek Cider Mill. "I didn't know you served food here!" Well-known for their fall fare of cider and donuts, Paint Creek Mill is under new ownership and making some changes: they are expanding their menu and staying open year-round. Owner Ed Granchi has a long history with Rochester and with food. The Rochester High School graduate managed both Mind Body & Spirits and Rochester Mills Beer Co. before purchasing Paint Creek Cider Mill. "It was a no-brainer when a local landmark came up to own and operate," Granchi said. "I have 15 years experience in the restaurant business but this was a great opportunity to have something of my own —and best of all, a place I used to enjoy as a child." Take a closer look at that …
42.73282
-83.16222
Paint Creek Cider Mill
4480 Orion Rd, Rochester, MI
/articles/paint-creek-mill-it-s-not-just-cider-and-donuts-anymore
1877453
/locations/8124476
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Aura owner Chris Nadjarian has a homecoming with the opening of his new salon.
Thomas Wolfe said it most famously: "You can't go home again." But, then again, the author never had the chance to meet Chris Nadjarian. If you take a chair at Nadjarian's new salon, Aura, located in the picturesque Victorian at the corner of University and Pine, and ask him if he's from around here, his answer might surprise you. "I'm from right here," Nadjarian said. "I grew up in this house." Nadjarian's father, Andre, bought the house in 1980 and converted the main floor into a hair salon. Nadjarian, then a teenager, moved into the apartment upstairs with his dad. "There were no walls up there," Nadjarian remembers. "My dad said, 'Just pretend there are walls, you'll get used to it.' And I did. But I never got used to the ghost." …
42.682039
-83.136231
302 W University Dr, Rochester, MI
/articles/a-new-salon-opens-downtown-and-it-s-a-familiar-setting-right-down-to-the-ghost
/locations/8124465
Cindy
11:00 pm on Friday, May 10, 2013
Wish I could say that things have gotten better since their "soft opening". Just had dinner at Mama Mia's with friends. We told them "food is great....service is awful!" We are from Rochester Hills and love to patronize the local restaurants. Food is great but what is this owner thinking? We saw two wait staff, no bartender, no bus boys. The place was pretty empty but our waitress was stressed … more ›