Friends of Tony D'Angelo, the popular proprietor of Tony D's restaurant in New London, might chuckle at an image of himself traipsing through a vineyard. Figure that he's better at drinking his Pinot Grigio than worrying about how it arrived in his glass.

Then there's D'Angelo … at a yacht club?

"I don't have an Izod shirt and boat shoes," D'Angelo said recently.

Introducing, nonetheless, the new Tony D's, not merely the hip city eatery that has attracted famous coaches (Geno Auriemma), singers (Frank Sinatra Jr. and Patti Lupone) and actors (Kevin Bacon) since its debut in May of 1999. D'Angelo and his staff have branched into catering, including weddings at a private vineyard in Salem and at the Mystic Yacht Club.

"We get asked to do so many parties," D'Angelo said recently at his restaurant, "it seemed like a natural step."

D'Angelo was in full "Tony D" mode discussing his new project. He sat in the lounge, gregarious as ever, his answers more direct than Secretariat to the finish line.

Take, for example, the recent restaurant expansion into the building next door, providing room for downtown weddings.

"What, the bride is going to get pictures taken in the parking lot?" he quipped.

D'Angelo did admit the room has been successful for special parties. Now he has two places for weddings: the vineyard and the yacht club, which provide pastoral and nautical backdrops for D'Angelo's food.

He said the idea to explore catering was collaborative. But D'Angelo, plenty excitable, is plenty excited about the want-to attitude from his staff, including his son, Anthony, the head chef, and Anthony Swift of New London, the pastry chef.

"They're very serious about this," D'Angelo said.

That much is clear to patrons who have already experienced a function the Tony D's way.

"It was outrageous," said Dan Adams, the senior vice president at Morgan Stanley in New London, who threw a recent party. "It was like the Food Network and that 'Best Thing I Ever Ate' show. I can't tell you the number of people who came up to me and said 'that's the best thing I ever ate.' They were three deep around the staff watching them cook."

The floor show has always been part of the Tony D's charm. In the restaurant, D'Angelo darts among tables, telling jokes, tending to details and even breaking into a little Sinatra. His new party business is the same, except that the patrons can watch food made live, including grilling and pasta stations.

"I was going to hire some entertainment," Adams said, "but Tony and his people were the entertainment."

D'Angelo said prospective wedding patrons might even get him to sing "Summer Wind" as a bonus.

"When we opened the restaurant, we had no idea whether it would be successful," he said. "We took a shot. All we could do was try hard."