Ansonia’s Main Street Shows First New Signs Of Life

Deneen Brideau and her friend Hope Dean were two of the first consumers at The Hub Pizza Bar Wednesday, both enjoying salads under the sun as well as a return to some part of life from before the COVID-19 shutdown.

The Main Street strip in Ansonia had a gradual start-up Wednesday before coming alive for the first phase of the state’s reopening since the March shutdown. Like Brideau and Dean, customers at newly opened businesses said they were happy to return towards some semblance of normalcy.

“I’m happy to go back to normal a little bit,” said Brideau. ​“Then again, on the other side, the virus is still affecting us. This is my first time going out since a trip to the grocery store.”

The manager, Charlie Class, said that Wednesday was the first day that tables were set up outside since the grand opening of one year ago. Under Gov. Ned Lamont’s order, restaurants could start serving customers in outdoor seating, but not inside.

“We’re following the procedures that the governor sent over step by step,” said Class. ​“With the silverware, we have hand sanitizer placed outside. We disinfect the tables when customers leave. Most of the stuff gets thrown out. We’re expecting a good turnout because of the weather.”

The owner of Copper City Bar & Grill, chef Thomas Carney, said he went into survival mode during the shutdown. He had to manage the restaurant alone for take-out until he could afford to rehire staff. Carney went beyond minimum guidelines Wednesday and provided face shields for his employees to make both staff and customers feel comfortable.

“We’re even going to shoot the customers a menu on instant messenger. They can give us their number and we’ll message it over,” said Carney. ​“I also printed out some paper menus too today that they can throw out.”

Aimee Willenbrock has been working as a manager for four years under Carney. She said 30 reservations had already been made for the outdoor patio for the reopening night.

“The regular customers have been saying they’re definitely ready for the patio because the food is missed,” said Willenbrock. ​“We are lucky for our regulars and there’s a lot of names that I don’t recognize on the reservations list for tonight. I’m hoping we still have a strong summer like every summer.”

Lynn Chesinas has been awaiting for her favorite thrift store, My Sister’s Place, to reopen. 

“I think it’s time to be back. I feel like if more contact tracing in the beginning then we wouldn’t be in this situation,” said Chesinas. ​“I was waiting in a line outside because only five customers are allowed in at a time but it wasn’t a very long wait at all.”

An employee at My Sister’s Place, Barbara Roman, reminded two of the customers in line who stood on ​‘x marks the spot’ — made out of blue scotch tape, six feet apart — that no cash is allowed, and that dressing rooms will remain closed despite the governor’s authorization to keep them available to shoppers. Customers were only allowed to walk in once, as they received a squirt of hand sanitizer and a pair of gloves. Roman made sure to disinfect the handles of shopping baskets before each customer was given one. 

Roman said she worked from home but made a visit to the store in April to set up the front window display of patriotic decor of red, white and blue flowers, USA flags, and plaques. 

“I did that as symbolism that we are all going through this together,” said Roman. ​“We all need normalcy in our lives. It’s going to be a different normal but as long as we can kind of proceed on that road I think it’s good.”

Nancy Cahoon said she thinks customers have returned quickly because of their mission as all proceeds go to the Umbrella Program for domestic violence.

“I have great staff and volunteers,” said Cahoon. ​“I have a couple of volunteers that are over the age of 65 and I tell them to not come in if they don’t feel comfortable. I think that people are going to take their time. They’re going to remain concerned.”

Chifrijos, a Peruvian and Costa Rican restaurant, is located directly across from Ansonia City Hall. Owners Astrid Clark and her husband, Gustavo Herrera, said that Mayor David Cassetti has been supportive of their reopening.

“The mayor came today to make sure that we were okay and asked if we needed anything,” said Clark. ​“We have gotten the OK from City Hall to add more tables because we placed tropical plants in between the tables to make sure that they are six feet apart.”

Libby Meissner opened Crave with her current chef, Fabian Delgado, 13 years ago. Meissner said that the past couple of months were tough on the Caribbean fusion bistro.

“Before we had 29 employees on payroll but we’ve only kept four or five employed,” said Meissner. ​“What we’ve made in sales now, we used to make in a day. What we sold in a week, we used to make on a Saturday. That’s just to show you the drastic change in sales.” 

Regulars Trey Cole and Brenton Calaghan, standing outside of the patio at Crave restaurant, said that they mainly come for the drinks and atmosphere. They pointed out that it has consecutively won for best fusion Latin restaurant over several years.

“I think it’s great that it’s open, but I think that largely it’s much too soon for any place to be reopening,” said Cole. ​“I think that we are going to be given an inch and take a mile and it’s all going to get shut down again.”