Village Haven restaurant to change ownership
NORTH SMITHFIELD – After running a business for more than 45 years, there comes a time when a change is needed, Gary Narodowy will tell you.
And that is the reason Narodowy’s family has sold the Village Haven Restaurant at 90 School St., Forestdale, to Sandra and Gianfranco Campanella, the owners of the nearby
Lucky Dog Tavern at 82 School St.
“They want to keep the tradition of the Village Haven Restaurant and they want to keep the name and everything the same,” Gary Narodowy explained when found working at the temporarily closed business this week.
The new owners have already received town council approval for the transfer of the Village Haven’s liquor and business licenses and finalized the sale with a closing Thursday evening, according to the Narodowy family.
Gary Narodowy and other members of the Village Haven’s staff will be staying on board to help with the transition to the new operation.
“I’ll be working for them and doing what I do,” Narodowy, who has been busy keeping up the restaurant property, noted.
Narodowy recently completed work on a new loading dock for the rear kitchen entrance to the business
and has also been replacing the carpet with deluxe vinyl flooring as part of renovations the new owners have begun.
It is expected the Village Haven will reopen in about a month after the renovations are completed.
The business’s regular customers are aware of the transition and many have been posting comments that they hope the new operation will continue to offer the Village Haven’s popular cinnamon rolls on its menu.
Narodowy said he is sure they will along with the Village Haven’s many other favorites, it’s family-style chicken dinners, prime rib and more.
“They want to keep the name and everything the same and just expand into more banquet and party events,” Narodowy noted.
The new owners are planning to keep their Lucky Dog
business even after buying the Village Haven and its 1-1/2 acres of land on School Street, according to Narodowy.
Rachel Narodowy, who owned the Village Haven with her late husband, Dave R. Narodowy, since they acquired it from her late brother Normand Branchaud in 1977, said completion of the sale this week was a bittersweet moment for her family.
“All of my children worked there at one time or another and it was a very good business to me over the years,” Rachel Narodowy said.
The Narodowys had seven children, Wayne, Neil, Glenn, Gary, Dean, Donna and Audrey, as a pretty good start for a staff, but also got help from other relatives, in-laws, and of course loyal friends over the years.
“I always say I don’t feel like I have worked a day in my life,” Rachel Narodowy said of the many good times she experienced at the Village Haven with her family and its staff.
Dave Narodowy, wellknown as WWON Radio’s Dave Russell and a founder of the local station’s “Coffee AN” morning show, died this year on Jan. 11, at the age of 88.The restaurant’s planned sale was already in the works at that time and Rachel said her husband was aware the move and strongly supported it.
“He was fully retired, and
I was going to join him so we could travel and do things together,” Rachel noted.
During a life busy with community service, Dave Narodowy was involved in the founding of Autumnfest, served as a president of the Woonsocket Rotary Club, and also co-founded the Rhode Island chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving with Pauline Allard as part of his many civic accomplishments.
Although Dave and Rachel purchased the Village Haven as a family enterprise, Dave left its operation pretty much up to Rachel and her family assistants like Gary and Neil’s wife, Donna “DJ” Narodowy.
Gary and Donna had largely guided the business while she stayed home during the pandemic, Rachel Narodowy noted.
There were always other family members, like their son, Glenn, a baker for the restaurant, and even the younger generation of grandchildren, nephews and nieces taking on roles to help at one time or another, according to Rachel.
The long-time employees of the Village Haven were also a family of sorts and the restaurant’s last day of operation on June 26 before its closing for the transition was an example of that.
About 90 former and current employees joined the Narodowys for a celebration of the business that evening and it was a special night, Rachel recalled.
“I had employees who worked for me who got married and then sent me their children to work in the restaurant,” Rachel noted.
“They said it was because they were treated so well when they worked here,” Rachel Narodowy added.
Before the June closing, the Village Haven was operating with a staff of 52 and all have been offered the opportunity to work for the new business if they wish, Narodowy said.
The Narodowys got to know the Campanellas when they started the Lucky Dog Tavern next door several years ago and found them to be very capable business people.
Gian Campanella was no stranger to the restaurant business and well versed in the operation of large restaurant like the Village Haven after having worked at the Coachman’s Restaurant in Bellingham for many years and in Providence businesses before that, Rachel noted.
“I was very happy that Gian and Sandra were the ones buying it,” Rachel said.
“We had helped them and they helped us and it was like a camaraderie in the business. All restaurants should be like that and work together,” Rachel added.
The Village Haven as a business property in the town dates back 1966 when William J. Allard, a local car business owner, razed the former Pel’s Tavern at the spot and constructed a new restaurant.
The business went through several other owners before Normand Branchaud, the founder of the Beef Barn in North Smithfield and Bellingham, picked it up at auction after it had been closed for several months.
Branchaud, who had a knack for unique business designs, made some improvements that included the addition of the downstairs El Toro Lounge, today’s Waterford Room banquet space.
The El Toro was a popular night spot in the area and featured a four-night show by Tommy James & the Shondells when it opened in August of 1972, Gary Narodowy noted.
The El Toro had a stage that rose from the lower level of the building allowing the acts to make a unique entrance to their performances.
The bands would come up playing for their set and then descend back downstairs when it finished.
That all changed when the lift mechanism failed in a newsworthy incident in August of 1981 as the five-member band “Elusive Butterfly” was ascending for its third set of the night and dropped back down seven feet.
All of the band members were transported to the then Fogarty Hospital at Park Square with generally minor injuries and later released.
Rachel Narodowy, away at the time of the incident, told the newspaper she was grateful no one was more seriously hurt and promised that the stage would be replaced by an immovable one.
Gary Narodowy said the El Toro continued to be used as a night club until 1993 when it was converted to the Waterford Room.
The current configuration of the Village Haven has seating for about 300 people in the upstairs dining area and for another 200 people in the Waterford Room downstairs function space, Narodowy noted.
Narodowy said he has been working at the Village Haven since he was 15 and pointed out everyone in his family, even the nieces, nephews and in-laws have pretty much all done the same.
“It was all weekend, and Sundays were a big day since we were open 12 to 8 p.m.,” Narodowy said.
“All restaurants involve a lot of work to run, anyone who owns one will tell you that,” Narodowy said.
It was even more work when COVID-19 came along and a smaller group of employees had to do more, Narodowy noted.
“Nobody knew how to run a restaurant during COVID and it was just something you had to learn,” Narodowy said.
The Village Haven got running again on a modified schedule and also relied on a take-out option popular with its long-time customers to keep going, Narodowy said.
It will now be up to the new owners to carry on when they take over.
“I am very confident they are going to succeed and keep it going,” Narodowy said of the business.
“They are getting a business with a name in town for 45 plus years and with our help, they will do fine,” Narodowy added.