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JP's Bella Luna to reopen in collaboration with JP's Haven
By adamg on Fri, 08/20/2021 - 1:42pm
Bella Luna co-owner Kathy Mainzer, who closed the Brewery-based restaurant and event space in March, 2020 due to Covid-19, announced today she is re-opening the place in December - in collaboration with Jason Waddleton, owner of the Haven, the Boston area's only Scottish restaurant.
The original Haven, in Hyde Square, will remain open; Waddleton will become general manager of and a partner in the combined Bella Luna/Haven space in the Brewery complex, which will once again feature food, live music and events.
Mainzer explained the new arrangement in a posting today in the Jamaica Plain Facebook group, to answer questions from people who didn't understand how the restaurant had gotten a large federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant after it had closed - and after it had run a GoFundMe campaign to help pay workers.
With help from the SBA’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund, we will be able to support many small businesses with this venture; from the Haven who muscled through the challenging pandemic and was able to stay open, to the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation who went without rent for a year and a half, to all the local small business vendors that have waited patiently for us to be able to pay our bills. Additionally, we are thankful to the Bella Luna community for stepping up when there was no support in sight and helping fill the gap to pay our staff while we strategized ways to remain in business.
By teaming up, we are able to make the small business vendors whole and launch a refreshed concept with priority for jobs given to former Bella Luna staff.
In April, Waddleton appeared before the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council to describe what he was thinking of for the old Bella Luna space when it seemed like he would simply create a larger Haven there - featuring the return of live music and a "guest chef" series
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Comments
Yay!
Yay! I have so much been missing Bella Luna!
Good news all around, but let
Good news all around, but let's be clear about who pays for all these Restaurant Revitalization Funds, and not exclude them by posting to a closed Facebook group. Also, why do owners have to go in front of some made up quasi-neighborhood council?
What two-bit dinky-ass little backwards hamlet are you from?
Let us know and maybe I can explain to you in terms you might almost be able to understand how things work in Boston and why it's a good thing neighborhoods have a say in what happens in them.
You mean a bunch of bullies
You mean a bunch of bullies pontificating about what kind of restaurant should replace another restaurant?
You should quit while you're behind
Especially in this case, where the same people who were upset Bella Luna was closing were loving the idea of the Haven moving in.
Oh, I'm sorry, you don't know anything about Bella Luna or the Haven or JP, do you?
No, except that they are
No, except that they are liked by the same group of people. It would be good to have something that caters to other tastes.
Wait. Wait. Reread your nonsense
One post up you complained about
And now you say
So you want to be one of the bullies, now, eh?
Where did I say that I want
Where did I say that I want to have a say in what place should be allowed to operate in a vacant space? My concern is that all restaurants in JP are variations on 2 bad themes. Surely the involvement of JPNC and JPNDC has something to do with it.
Where did you say you wanted
Where did you say you wanted a say? Just by making this statement:
And Adam's correct, you don't know anything about JP. "2 bad themes"? Just what bad themes are they, pray tell?
Hyde Sq Location
I'm just happy the Hyde Sq location won't be closing.
Magoo sez
Hoppy beer gives Magoo the Tummy Troubles the next morning. Magoo.
$2MM in relief money and $49
$2MM in relief money and $49,399 in a Go Fund Me to pay off final debts and salaries. And they re-open? The JPNDC could have offered them no rent while staying in operation (for takeout) during the height of the pandemic. Most restaurants would have killed for that. Instead, it laid empty for a year and a half and the violins come out - no rent. It's fishy. I think it's good to be a skeptic here. There's not a lot of info in the response. I think there is overall good fortune, good timing, and good support, yet so many of us are scratching our heads and looking the other way.
They should be giving out a
They should be giving out a lot of free rounds. Glad to have a restaurant back in that spot though.
The best use of 2 millions of
The best use of 2 millions of taxpayer monies is a couple of free rounds on JP drinkers?