AMHERST – In the 1960s, Rebecca Casagrande’s mother and aunt worked at the old Amherst Creamery, the brick building at the corner of Fearing Street and Sunset Avenue where several hundred gallons of ice cream were churned out daily.
Until 1964, many teenagers and families could drop by the creamery to get ice cream cones on warm summer days and evenings.
Now, decades later, Casagrande will take over the restaurant that has long been inside the brick office building, immediately across from the Southwest area of the University of Massachusetts campus, where she envisions Sunset Grill & Pizza will have a menu featuring what she describes as comfort food.
“I want to create a nice culture where students as well as year-round residents can feel comfortable in the space,” Casagrande said.
A Pelham resident and Shutesbury native, Casagrande, 47, is pursuing a longtime dream to operate a restaurant, following extensive experience in the food-service industry, which most recently included a stint at the Burger King in Hadley before its closing in December 2014.
“I’ve been entertaining the thought of owning a restaurant my whole life,” Casagrande said.
But she ackowledges that starting a restaurant from scratch comes with risks, and this venture is more difficult, in part, because College Pizza closed after the health department suspended its food license for a year. That suspension was prompted by the discovery of inappropriate and unsanitary behavior in the preparation of food by a relative of the previous owner, Basem “Sam” Fam, captured on video and viewed by Health Director Julie Federman.
Casagrande is convinced she can change the restaurant’s reputation, not only related to the reason it was forced to close, but also the “free-for-all” behavior of college-age people late on weekend nights that she said have made for an unsafe atmosphere. She intends to use her roots in the community, and be serious about security during the period from midnight to 2 a.m., to alter the perception.
“I have to change the name, change the brand, change everything about it,” Casagrande said.
After leaving her job at Wal-Mart last year, deciding that retail did not suit her, Casagrande discussed opening a restaurant with her husband, Jason. They began negotiating with the owner of a different establishment and, when that fell through, looked at three additional places before the opportunity to take over College Pizza came along.
Sunset Grill & Pizza will emphasize a higher quality of food and a place where people can dine in, while still having the staple of pizza, with pizza-by-the-slice for take out and eat in, and delivery.
“With 5,500 students living at my front door, I know they like pizza,” Casagrande said.
Her classmate at Amherst Regional High School, Michael Kazonis, who ran the former Pizzarama on College Street, has provided consulting to her since November.
Soups and salads, overstuffed turkey, roast beef and ham sandwiches, grilled items and hand-cut potato chips will make up the menu, along with gluten-free items, which will appeal to many people, such as her oldest child, Rachael, who suffers from celiac disease. Reasonably priced meals for children will also be available.
She is looking for a local baker to supply the bread and will have local produce and serve Pierce Brothers Coffee.
Casagrande anticipates hiring 15 to 20 people to work the lunch, dinner and late-night hours, but does not yet know what payroll she will be able to support.
Even before opening, there are indications that this will be a family-run business.
Her husband, Jason, 44, who runs Jason’s Home Repair Service, is handling many of the interior renovations, which she estimates will cost $30,000 to $40,000 based on buying materials, including maroon and gold paint, and the time of his labor.
“He’s doing all the renovations and updates,” Casagrande said. “He’s replacing all the floors, painting everything and making it all safety-compliant.”
She is making sure all the existing equipment works and is doing routine maintenance on it.
Casagrande would not say how much she paid to purchase the business, but observes that the assets had “very little value” based on the publicity surrounding the alleged violations.
“We got a really good deal,” Casagrande said.
The rest of her family is also helping out.
Rachael, 23, who works professionally as a data systems analyst, will be handling website design and Facebook and other social media publicity.
Kenny, 19, a Smith Vocational graduate, is assisting his father with the interior work.
And even her youngest, Autumn, 7, is choosing some of the photographs of sunsets that will adorn the walls, some of which were shot by local photographers Stephanie Oates and Richard Logan and will be for sale.
Monday, Casagrande will request a common victualler’s license from the Select Board. She also may seek a food establishment license that will allow her to sell bags of potato chips, candy bars and other convenience-store items that might appeal to college students.
The tobacco license which comes with the business may be relinquished, though that decision has not yet been made.
“That’s definitely not the culture I’m looking for,” Casagrande said.
Reflecting on the site, where the ice cream shop was once housed and where year-round production of ice cream continued until 1971, Casagrande said she wants to be active throughout the summer, unlike the most recent venture that boarded up the windows when students were gone.
“If everything goes perfect, I hope we would open the first week of April,” Casagrande said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com
