A “Now Hiring” sign appears in the window of Balderose Fine Foods in the run up to its reopening this week. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)
By JIM WILLIS
After a bizarrely short first go, Balderose Fine Foods in Fair Haven is set to reopen this Friday, says chef and owner Tony Balderose.
PieHole saw the lights on early Monday morning, we popped in to find the Grateful Dead playing on the radio and Balderose getting the coffee equipment ready for the reopening.
The business had only been open three months last August when Balderose, of Shrewsbury, closed its doors indefintely because he was at odds with his business partners.
Tony Balderose in the market on opening day last May. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Now, Balderose says he’s found a new partner and is ready to reopen. Balderose has partnered with Katie Quirk from Monmouth Beach. According to Balderose, Quirk was looking into the partnership opportunity for some friends of hers, and when she looked at the numbers, ended up taking on the deal herself.
In its first run, the food market offered take-out lunches and dinners with a focus on seasonal ingredients, and Balderose doesn’t see making many changes this time around.
“We were doing pretty good as far as the numbers, so we’re not looking to change much,” he says. “But we’ll listen to anything customers want to suggest.”
He tells PieHole he’s trying to arrange for some indoor seating now that it’s cold out, in anticipation of warmer days. “We eventually want to put a Manhattan-style counter facing the street,” says Balderose.
Balderose says the old website for the business is out of date and will get PieHole the address of the new one as soon as it is live.
The market will reopen at 7 a.m. Friday, Balderose’s 53rd birthday.
