Traverso's sale ends 89 years of family management
06.10.11
Longtime customers, many of whom had been visiting Traverso's since they were children, were stunned by Wednesday's announcement.
“It's heartbreaking,” said Susan Nelson of Santa Rosa, who came in around noon to buy a prosciutto sandwich. “They've been like family to us. They're like family to everyone in Santa Rosa.”
The Fountaingrove store and its inventory are being acquired by a San Rafael couple who plan to re-open with a similar theme but a different name, owner George Traverso said.
“It's very emotional. It's really a sad thing,” Traverso said. “I love what I'm doing, but it's just a point where I have to be realistic.”
The sale is expected to be completed before Thanksgiving, he said. Traverso's five current employees will not work at the new store, he said.
The identity of the buyers and financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Diminished consumer spending during the recession and increased competition from chain stores contributed to the family's decision to sell, Traverso said. The price of rent and fuel were also factors, he said. Also, Traverso started working at the store when he was 14, and at 65, he's ready to retire.
Source: Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Cocktail Chronicles: Enoteca La Storia in Los Gatos
05.10.11
I've never been to a wine bar in New York City, but in my imagination it would look like Enoteca La Storia in Los Gatos.
Opened in April 2010 by Joe Cannistraci and Michael Guerra, Enoteca is not what you'd expect to find in the Los Gatos Shopping Center on North Santa Cruz Avenue, snuggled up against a Coldwell Banker office.
Inside, there's a long, white marble bar with high-backed stools, dimly lit from above by a row of pendant lights with bare Edison-style bulbs. There are a few rectangular, marbled-topped tables between the bar and shelves loaded with wine for sale, but the bar seems to be the first choice of seating for most people.
Gleaming white subway tile and an antique-looking meat slicer give the back bar area the look of a New York deli. The interior has a semi-industrial look with exposed ventilation allowing it to have an impossibly high ceiling.
In late August, a patio was built out front with umbrella-covered tables and a soothing stone fountain at its center. If you keep your back to the cars, it's easy to imagine that you're sipping chardonnay at a cafe in Rome and not in a parking lot.
Source: San Jose Mercury News
