Four Brothers Pizza, formerly located at 43 Saugatuck Ave., has opened at 621 Post Road East in the shopping center anchored by The Fresh Market.  Owner Westporter Casandra Arcano will continue to conduct business at the Saugatuck Avenue location which has been converted to a delivery and take-out Mexican food enterprise, Cuatro Hermanos (Spanish for four brothers) which opens next week. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The property available sign went up today at 176 Post Road West which was home until earlier this month of Saab of Westport. After almost 30 years, The Ryan Auto Group closed its Saab dealership and merged it into its sister dealership, Cadillace-Saab of Greenwich. The Westport property, which includes a 14,000-square-foot building on slightly less than two acres, has been listed for lease with the Stamford office of Cushman & Wakefield. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Tonight’s Westport Planning & Zoning Commission agenda includes hearing a pre-application for a new restaurant named The Bar Car at 20 Railroad Place in the Saugatuck area formerly occupied by Bedroom Matters. Applicants Mimi McLaughlin and Jerff Marron describe the business as “a wine and beer bar with a small food menu.” They say it will be geared toward “experienced drinkers” and have a “quiet speakeasy-esque atmosphere.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

By Dave Matlow

Abbondanza, the specialty food store and catering service and its Bonda Restaurant at 30 Charles St. in Westport’s Saugatuck area for the past 15 years, has closed.
Jamie Cooper, owner the vacated Abbondanza specialty food store and Bonda restaurant, will reopen Bonda in Fairfield. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Saturday night’s closing was announced by Abbondanza owner Jamie Cooper in a letter sent to customers last week.

“It is both with sadness and excitement that I am writing you this letter,” he said. “The typical sadness that accompanies the end of something great and the excitement that accompanies something new.” 

Cooper said that he plans to open a restaurant, retaining the name “Bonda,” in Fairfield in late June or early July. He chose not to identify the address until negotiations are concluded. 

JetBlue Airways and Bradley International Airport are close to announcing the discount carrier’s plans to start flying from Connecticut, most likely to and from Florida or San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Hartford Courant said today.

The report quoted “a source familiar with the plan.”

On Monday a JetBlue spokesman acknowledged that the airline is “evaluating” Bradley’s market, but refused to offer details, the newspaper said.

From Bradley, which is New England’s second biggest airport, JetBlue would most likely serve Florida or San Juan due to the airline’s existing interest in those destinations, which do well from the Northeast, the source said.

By Dave Matlow

The restaurant at Westport’s Saugatuck Rowing Club debuts this week under new ownership and a new name. 
It’s the first restaurant for experienced chef John Holzwarth. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

John Holzwarth, former chef at Westport’s Dressing Room restaurant for the past two years, is the owner of the new restaurant, The Boat House at Saugatuck.

“I’ve always been looking for the right opportunity and this is it,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve been a restaurant owner and it’s a good feeling.” 

Holzwarth who spent 13 years as a chef although he graduated from the University of Buenos Aires with a B.A. in economics and Spanish literature, said that the menu will be seasonal and the food will be acquired from local and artisan producers.

A new business, Massage Envy, is opening at 275 Post Road East in Playhouse Square. Owner Ram Ahuja said the business is membership-based like a fitness clinic and includes one massage each month with reduced prices for additional massages in the same month. “Ours will be the sixth Massage Envy in Connecticut,” he said. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The Thali Indian cuisine restaurant has opened at 376 Post Road East in the Compo Acres shopping center location previously occupied by the Taipan restaurant. The newcomer to Westport is the fifth Thali location in Connecticut run by Indian chef Prasad Chirnomula. The others are in New Canaan, Ridgefield, and two in New Haven.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

UPDATE Westport National Bank allegedly received $2.5 million in fees for managing pooled investments for Bernard Madoff, Governor M. Jodi Rell said today as she referred results of a preliminary investigation to the state’s Attorney General.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell referred preliminary findings involving Westport National to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com/file

In addition, she said a Westport-based pension consultant firm and its founder and owner allegedly received clients’ fees in excess of $14 million and failed to properly disclose to clients how those fees were calculated.

The investigation into the securities activities of the bank and PSCC Services Inc., and its founder-owner Robert L. Silverman of Wilton is an outgrowth of the Madoff fraud scheme that resulted in losses of almost $65 billion to investors.

“Bernie Madoff perpetrated a fraud that has created a landslide of misery for thousands upon thousands of innocent people,” Rell said in a statement.