A R.I. destination deals with unexpected change

John Elkhay, chief executive of Chow Fun Food Group, which includes Rick’s Roadhouse, Ten Prime Steak and Sushi, and Luxe Burger Bar, brought one of his newest business ventures, Harry’s Bar & Burger, to 301 Atwells Ave. last year.

For Elkhay, it wasn’t a question of if he would come to Providence’s Federal Hill, but rather when.

“I’d been sniffing to come up on The Hill for years,” Elkhay said. “Federal Hill has always been very charming, obviously, and very ethnic. I thought we would blend in and show how Federal Hill has grown.”

Harry’s new offering of Hereford beef sliders and craft beer is far from the chicken saltimbocca and fine Italian wine found at Joe Marzilli’s Old Canteen Italian restaurant down the street, which has been in business since the 1950s.

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But it’s not the newest establishment on Atwells Avenue and is merely a symbol of the changing face of the business community there.

Martha A. Soderlund co-owns Vanuatu Coffee Roasters with her brother James “Jimmy” B. Lappin. The business opened a few months ago at 294 Atwells Ave.

The siblings source coffee beans from a 30-acre farm they lease in The Republic of Vanuatu, a small South Pacific island east of Australia, and they ship it to Providence.

Soderlund says her brother took a flight from California, where he was living at the time, to Providence to look at the spot she’d chosen on The Hill. After taking one look at the foot traffic along the avenue they signed a lease.

“We knew we were totally different, but that’s OK,” Soderlund said.

A NEW DAY

Despite the newcomers, decades-old Italian establishments such as Andino’s, Costantino’s Venda, Scialo Bros. Bakery, The Old Canteen and Tony’s Colonial Food still form the backbone of a roughly half-mile stretch of Atwell’s Avenue in the heart of Federal Hill.

It wasn’t that long ago that conversation in Italian could be found on nearly every corner.

Bob D’uva, president of the Federal Hill Commerce Association, thinks the diversity of commerce that has developed is good and supports The Hill’s role as a major economic driver for the capital city. He’s thrilled with new ventures such as Harry’s and Vanuatu, which he says bring in the right type of commerce. Many neighborhood leaders agree with him.

In 2003, Red’s Tattoo and Body Piercing opened at 228 Atwells Ave. (Last year, TattooMedics moved in next door specializing in tattoo removal.) In the same year, Opa the Phoenician opened two doors down offering Mediterranean food and a hookah bar.

In the last few years, a Mexican restaurant opened along with two mobile stores – Mobile City and Cellular Medic. In addition a threading parlor, a coffee shop, a burger joint, a massage parlor and a tap house have all moved into the neighborhood.

But with many of these new kinds of businesses have come whispers about The Hill. Many have seen other, less welcomed, changes, tied to increased crime that have led to empty storefronts and concern for the future of a neighborhood that still draws tourists from all over to sample Italian cuisine for which it has developed a national reputation.

Beginning in 2005, D’uva started noticing an influx of establishments outfitted more for the late-night crowd.

Indeed, between 2005 and 2014, no less than 12 new businesses along Atwells Avenue opened as bars or nightclubs, according to the Secretary of State’s corporate database, many of which – D’uva and Federal Hill business owners say – started attracting a “bad element.”

CRIME ON THE HILL

The Hill is no stranger to crime, but that too has changed.

In the 1950s, Raymond L. S. Patriarca Sr., boss of the Patriarca crime family, moved family operations from Boston to 168 Atwells Ave. using the front of a vending machine and pinball business called the National Cigarette Service Co. and Coin-O-Matic Distributors. It was known locally as “The Office.”

Much of New England’s organized crime was run through The Hill, where family operations remained until the 1990s, long after Patriarca died in 1984.

Today, Patriarca’s former Federal Hill headquarters is vacant and most recently accommodated a Middle Eastern restaurant called King Kabobs.

But while the mob may no longer be visible on The Hill, some of the illegal business it was involved in has not completely disappeared. Last week, Rhode Island State Police charged three people with involvement in an illegal gambling operation they say included the Toscan Social Club on Spruce Street.

The paradox of organized crime on The Hill is that for many the neighborhood felt quieter in Patriarca’s day.

“We used to have a slogan: Federal Hill protects itself,” D’uva said, talking about the “old days.” To a certain degree, that nostalgia is understandable.

Harry’s Bar & Burger received approval last year from the Providence Board of Licenses the same day the board revoked the licenses of The $3 Bar, formerly at 242 Atwells Ave.

Police allege a man beat another man to death in The $3 Bar parking lot last July. Later that month, gunfire was reported near Skarr Lounge, formerly at 292 Atwells Ave., where an alleged beating took place two nights later. Skarr, a hookah bar, had already been fined $1,750 earlier in the year for a fight involving about a dozen people. Its licenses were also revoked and although it won a stay of license from the R.I. Department of Business Regulation, its doors have since shuttered.

Last September, police responded to a double stabbing outside Vault Lounge, at 387 Atwells Ave., and in October three people were arrested after an alleged fight broke out at Ice Lounge, at 223 Atwells Ave., which factored into the board decision to revoke its licenses.

Crime on Atwells Avenue contributed to an overall increase in violent crimes throughout Providence Police District 4, which encompasses all of Federal Hill and extends south toward Cranston.

In 2014, five homicides, 27 sexual offenses and 72 robberies were reported in the district. In comparison, 2013 yielded one homicide, 17 sex offences and 68 robberies. Aggravated assaults, however, did decrease about 30 percent year over year.

In just the Federal Hill neighborhood, police say the total number of violent crimes reported nearly doubled last year to 57, from 29 in 2013. That was the third-highest total since 2006.

In reaction to the uptick in violence, the city bolstered police patrols in the neighborhood. While it helped assuage some of the business owners’ uneasiness, news of the crime spread and reflected poorly on The Hill.

D’uva said public safety became a concern for some patrons.

“People were never afraid to come because they felt like Federal Hill policed itself. That’s changed,” D’uva said.

Although neighborhood-by-neighborhood statistics are scant, a large portion of Providence wining and dining is done on The Hill, which the city and state capitalize on via a shared 1 percent meal and beverage tax.

Last August, Providence recorded a year-over-year decrease of $7,187 for its 1 percent meal and beverage tax collection, which was the largest nominal decrease of any community in the state, according to an analysis done by the R.I. Department of Revenue.

Neither the city nor the state could say what led to the decline, but D’uva says Atwells Avenue also saw a slight dip in sales during the same period, which he attributes at least in part to public concern about crime.

BOUNCING BACK

The increased patrols paired with the city revoking a number of licenses from late-night establishments alleviated some of the crime on The Hill, according to police.

By December, food and liquor seemed to be flowing fine in Providence, as it recorded a year-over-year meals and beverage increase of $20,769, which was the second-largest nominal increase of any R.I. community according to the state.

Andino’s Italian restaurant, at 171 Atwells Ave., opened in 1988 as a social club, and today it is one of what D’uva calls Federal Hill’s “stalwart establishments.” Its owner, Anthony Merola, was born and raised on The Hill and has seen a laundry list of businesses come and go. He says that as long as people come in with the right business plan – and enough money – they can thrive on The Hill.

“People’s minds wander, and they don’t understand the whole story so they think The Hill has gone bad,” Merola said. “The Hill didn’t go bad.”

Merola says the nightclub-like establishments don’t quite fit the Atwells Avenue motif, and he hopes the city continues to take note.

“You could never take Federal Hill out of my blood because I was born and raised here,” Merola said. “But the city of Providence has to stop and take another look at what they’re doing up here.”

Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, who grew up on Cranston Street just south of the Federal Hill boundaries, agrees with Merola that The Hill isn’t cut out for nightclubs. He made it clear during a recent Providence Business News interview there would be no room for establishments that create an unsafe atmosphere in the neighborhood.

“For anyone who is running a business or is considering it, they need to know that it’s not going to be tolerated [on The Hill],” Elorza said. “It’s not the right fit for a retail corridor that’s known for cuisine.”

Elorza says most importantly he wants residents and tourists to feel safe. He pointed to some recent zoning codes that could prevent new nightclubs from opening on The Hill.

In 2012, the city adopted new entertainment regulations. The changes prohibit “nightclubs,” as defined by the city, and “live entertainment” – in conjunction with a bar or restaurant – from establishing in C-2 districts, or “General Commercial District,” according to zoning ordinances adopted in November.

The majority of Atwells Avenue is zoned C-2. Businesses incorporated before the overhaul are grandfathered into the former zoning codes, which allow nightclubs.

The Board of Licenses revocation of licenses has left a number of prominent Atwells Avenue storefronts empty, but City Council member Bryan Principe, who represents Federal Hill, expects they won’t sit empty for long.

“My [grandmother] always used to say, ‘One bad apple can’t wreck the whole pack,’ ” Principe said. “I think what we’ve done through the licensing board is say that we will not accept irresponsible business activity on The Hill.”

THE BRAND

Last month, New York City-based travel magazine Travel and Leisure ranked Providence No. 2 out of 20 in its “America’s Best Cities for Food Snobs.”

The capital city finished second to Houston and won the survey for bakeries outright. In its recognition, Travel and Leisure named Scialo Bros. Bakery, at 257 Atwells Ave., and described why readers should try it.

“Go to Scialo Brothers Bakery, which first opened in 1916, and order one of the beloved sfogaliatelle – a seashell-shaped cookie made with paper-thin layers of dough and sweet cream.”

Luigi Scialo opened the bakery in 1916 and today – nearly 100 years later – his daughters Lois Ellis and Carol Gaeta are still making cakes. The sisters grew up in the bakery and both remember working and playing in it as young children. After college they both had other careers – Gaeta a medical secretary and Ellis a teacher. In 1993, however, when their father died at the age of 103, the sisters took over the family business.

The bakery is a link to the days when Atwells Avenue bustled with pushcart vendors hawking fresh vegetables, butcher shops filled with the sound of disgruntled animals and Italian grocers lined the street.

Looking around the neighborhood today, Ellis says it’s changed a lot.

“There wasn’t Chinese restaurants and the hookah bars were completely alien,” Ellis said. “It was just an Italian neighborhood.”

But she says the diversification is ultimately good for Federal Hill commerce.

“It’s good because it brings a lot of people up here,” Ellis said.

From May to October, tourists file out of buses to visit and admire the sisters’ artistry. Scialo is a part of the Federal Hill brand, which draws tourists to the nation’s smallest state – a significance that isn’t lost on city officials.

Elorza, in his first term, plans to work with Federal Hill merchants to ensure the neighborhood remains vibrant because he knows it is an important part of what defines Rhode Island.

“When I travel across the country and I tell folks that I’m from Rhode Island, two things come up,” Elorza said. “Newport and Federal Hill.”

Principe thinks the Federal Hill brand will strengthen with the diversification in business.

“It will only enhance the overall appeal,” he said.

Vanuatu Coffee Roasters’ Soderlund, for one, is buying in: “The thing is, Federal Hill is already a destination,” she said. “We want our café to be a destination on The Hill.” •

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