Restaurants add a new item to their menu
By Caitlyn Kelleher and Karen Mann

Peter Vynne, the general manager of the Village Inn in Westminster, is one of the original members of the new restaurant collaborative that recently formed in North Central Massachusetts.

Robert Saccone opened the Victorian House 25 years ago on Maple Avenue in Ashburnham and conducted business by word of mouth and reputation.

Saccone has never once put a sign up marking his business' location.

"Times have changed," he said. "It is a little different now. People from Ashburnham don't know where we are here."

But instead of putting up a sign Saccone has decided to take a different step. He and more than a dozen other restaurant owners have formed the Independent Restaurant Collaborative.

The collaborative is comprised of a group of restaurant owners from Luneburg to Gardner that own and operator either one or two restaurants. The restaurants all have a full liquor license and have been in operation for a number of years.

"We have got some many people together it is interesting," Saccone said. "We are competitors so that makes it even more interesting."

This collaborative is comprised of 15 independent restaurants in the North Central Massachusetts area.

To date the restaurants that have joined the collaborative include the Border Grille & Bar, Cristina's Restaurant, The Cornerstone Restaurant, Gondola Restaurant, and The Monument Grill in Leominster; Village Inn's restaurant, Old Mill Restaurant and Joseph's Bistro in Westminster; Sean Patrick's Family Restaurant in Lunenburg; Slattery's in Fitchburg; The Victorian House Restaurant in Ashburnham; and Carmela's Restaurant and Southside Grille & Margarita Factory in Gardner.

"I think it is a very exciting opportunity," said Peter Vynne, the general manager of the Village Inn in Westminster. "I think it is very good to reintroduce the restaurants people don't think of all of the time."

Vynne represents the restaurant at the Inn as well as the Black Diamond Restaurant at the Wachusett Mountain Ski Area.

"The mountain does do a lot more business than people think on dinning," he said of the restaurant that is open during the ski season.

Saccone was a teacher at Montachuett Regional Vocational Technical School for 32 years and from the experience as well as the restaurant business he knows many of the other owners.

In some respects he says this is like "comparing notes."

"We are all in the same boat," he said. "There is a lot more competition out there."

The goal of the group is not only of work together on marketing including combining resources for events.

Although the group has not made many formal plans yet other ideas have been discussed such as common gift cards, working with vendors to ensure the lowest prices,

"I think that all of these restauranters are professional," Vynne said. "They are all owner operators. I think there is such a remarkable amount of talent that we can all help each other. I think we have strength but I think they have strength as well."

"No industry can do business the way it did 15 years ago," said David Celuzza, who has owned and operated Slattery's Restaurant since 1984.

By forming a group and sharing ideas, Celuzza said they could put their heads together and figure out the best way to move their businesses forward.

The group also feels it is important for the community to recognize their faces.

"I think they recognize the restaurant by the faces," said Donna Balletta, owner of the Monument Grill in Leominster.

For Celuzza, reaching out to new customers is one of the reasons he got involved in the collaborative.

"Our customers have changed. It used to be people we went to school with, now it is new people in the area," said Celuzza. "If we don't know they are here, they don't know we are here. We have to get out there."

He added that the local restaurants are the fabric of the area, giving back to the community on a daily basis. He estimates they all donate a total of $250,000 to local groups annually. This is something he would like to remind the community of.

Balletta said she met with David Celuzza, owner of Slattery's Restaurant in Fitchburg, and Allan Cosimi, owner of The Bootlegger Restaurant in Lunenburg, almost nine months ago to talk about coming together as a group to advertise, to reach out to the community, and to offer support and ideas to one another.

Celuzza said no other industry in Massachusetts has come together like they are, and it is rare throughout the country as well.

"We are on the tip of it. It is exciting," said Celuzza.