New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Nautical-themed Milford restaurant opens
MILFORD — As customers sat around the bar and in the dining room at Nautilus, Crystal Ardito-Meyer couldn’t help but get a little emotional after seeing how far she and her business partner, Nick Amoratis, had come.
“We have a lot of people to thank, from friends and family to the Walnut Beach community that helped us get to this point,” Ardito-Meyer said. “That’s the most emotional part for us. People believed in us.”
The restaurant recently held its soft launch at 54 Naugatuck Ave. after 15 years in the making. The co-owners said a grand opening for Nautilus will come.
“What we mean by a soft opening is to show everyone what we’ve been doing, but we are hoping to get feedback to make sure we get everything right, so when we do our grand opening, everything is perfect from the food, music, atmosphere and staff,” Amoratis said. “We want to upgrade our furniture, add a couple more paintings on the wall and renovate the bathrooms before our grand opening.”
Keeping with the theme of a soft opening, Amoratis said they are introducing the menu slowly by offering a few things each week.
The restaurant opened in the same location as the former Alfa’s, which Amoratis’ grandfather opened in 1980, and where Ardito-Meyer worked for 16 years.
“Unfortunately, after my dad passed away, things started to go downhill, and this location started to get a bad reputation,” Amoratis said. “That’s why we wanted to do something new and show the community what our vision is, which is different.”
The plan to own a new restaurant started when ArtidoMeyer and Amoratis joked about buying the location one day and opening their restaurant. Now that “joke” has become a reality.
“When the bar was completed, we took a step back and realized it was finally done,” Amoratis said. “It felt like it was almost complete, it’s not complete as far as the entire restaurant, but once the bar was done, it made us feel really good because we had been waiting for the material for a long time.
“We didn’t realize how much time, effort and money was going to go into the bar, but we are happy we did it,” he said.
It was not all smooth sailing for the co-owners as they had planned to open Nautilus in December, but the target date was pushed back due to supply chain problems, scheduling delays and supply shortages.
“The hardest thing for us is we didn’t have a general contractor. We subcontracted out individual contractors to do different things,” Amoratis said. “Going into this, we knew supply and prices were going to be challenging, but we were ready for it.”
Both Ardito-Meyer and Amoratis are familiar with the Walnut Beach community. They are excited to not only finally open but to start giving back to the community that supported them and collaborating with other local businesses.
“Giving back is something we’re extremely excited to do, and I’m thankful that we have the space and ability to do so,” Ardito-Meyer said. “I’m thankful that we have gotten to this point.”