Garden Catering Reopens Chickahominy Location

GREENWICH, CT - Tuesday couldn't come soon enough for Frank Carpenteri Jr.

The owner of the Garden Catering and his staff have been busy putting the finishing touches on the renovated Chickahominy location at 177 Hamilton Ave. that was heavily damaged in a December 2014 fire.

At 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, the doors will open and fans of Hotsy's chili, the 'high school special' and the breakfast sandwiches will be able to satisfy their appetites.

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"I am very relieved to be reopening. It's been a crazy 15 months," Carpenteri said.

“Throughout this rebuild our neighbors, customers and community have been incredibly supportive. The emails, calls, and outpouring of encouragement we have received has really been amazing,” Carpenteri added.

Located across the street from Hamilton Avenue School, Garden Catering Hamilton Avenue is one of the oldest of the seven family-run Garden Catering locations.

“We’ve been here for 16 years. This was actually the first store I ever managed. My sister Tina, co-owner of the store, and I grew up down the street on top of the old Tom’s Deli. I’m very proud of the fact that I grew up around here and now operate a business in the community,” Carpenteri said.

Customers will see that the store has a different look than before the fire. Carpenteri said, “We just started to introduce our new logo and branding into our stores before the fire. Having to rebuild from the ground up gave us the opportunity to really incorporate that branding and color scheme, and put together a store that I think can be the model for future growth.”

The store logo and awnings on the exterior are lime green and the interior is designed with sleek, slate gray tiles.

To help celebrate their grand opening, Garden Catering Hamilton Avenue will be hosting fundraisers and special events throughout the spring.

“It has always been our goal to give back to the communities that have supported us so much over the years," Carpenteri said. "We’ll be hosting a fundraiser with Kids in Crisis, and have plans to bring back Tee Shirt Day, which we haven’t done in a few years.”

Garden Catering will be open 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Contributed photos.