Grotto, Fabio Salerno's wine bar at Shaker Square, will close at the end of the month. Salerno sold the business to Coral Co., which owns the square.
"With everything else going on it made sense to pull out," Salerno told me. In addition to Gusto in Little Italy, and partnerships in other restaurants, he expects Town Hall to open in Ohio City in late May. Lago, which moved from Tremont, will open soon in the Flats.
Peter Rubin, President and CEO of Coral, says that discussions are progressing to bring new tenants into both the soon-to-be-vacant Grotto space and the recently shuttered Sarava space.
"We have quite a few people interested in that space as well as Sarava," he said. "We are not ready to announce who, but it won't be long before both spaces are open and operating with different concepts."
When selecting a new tenant, Rubin says that his preference is to attract "local, independent, chef-owned restaurants."
"We've had the same philosophy about Shaker Square as a dining district for as long as we've owned it," Rubin says. "We want operators to complement existing offerings and offer another price point. With the unfortunate closing of Sarava and our purchase of Grotto, those price points and menus are now missing."
Stay tuned to this channel to learn when and who will be taking over.
