Stella's restaurant taking shape in Old Lyme
Old Lyme — After nearly two years sitting vacant, the former Illiano's restaurant near Rogers Lake is being transformed into a new Italian eatery to be known as Stella's Restaurant & Pizzeria.
Last week, construction crews were diligently working on the 115-seat restaurant to add a new bar area. Overseeing the work was Eltion Seferi, owner of New London-based LT Construction, whose wife Viktorya will be managing the day-to-day operations.
"It's going to be a family-oriented restaurant," said head chef Hysen Kodra of East Lyme, like many of the initial employees part of the wide-ranging Seferi family.
The Seferis, from Waterford, said the 2,800-square-foot restaurant was named after their oldest child, 6-year-old Stella. This is their first foray in the restaurant business, and they hope to be ready to open in early May.
"We're going to make this a success," Eltion Seferi said.
Seferi said he is good friends with Roberto Schiano, one of the partners in the Illiano's restaurant chain. But Schiano said he is simply the landlord in this venture.
"I'll help out in way or shape I can, but I'm not involved," he said.
Schiano closed up the Illiano's on Boston Post Road in 2015 after nearly two decades in business, saying it was time for a remake. He and partner Paul Illiano had turned over the business to an associate who couldn't make the large pizza restaurant work in a part of town that is quiet in the off season.
The Seferis said they believe the addition of a bar will help drive new business to the restaurant. The eatery, dressed in a new coat of white paint, will feature pizzas, as in the past, but it will be a Neapolitan-style pie of their own recipe, with thin crust.
Food will be fresh and locally grown, they said, with the possibility of some produce coming from their own garden out back. The family hopes also to put in a summer patio for al fresco dining.
In addition to pizza, Stella's will include paninis, sandwiches and a variety of Italian salads, including a grilled Caesar that could include anything from chicken to fish.
If all goes well, Stella's will be open before Mother's Day, and a grand opening is planned, said Viktorya Seferi.
"Our vision is to make this place the best in the area," she said.
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