Sam’s Bar and Grill has new owners

By Jananne Abel

I try to keep up with the always-changing Port Chester/Rye Brook restaurant scene. In the last month, one eatery has changed hands and two have closed. Attempts to find out more about future plans for another that closed more than two months ago have been unsuccessful.

Sam’s Bar and Grill

Sam and Karen Harris of Stamford had owned Sam’s Bar and Grill adjacent to the Byram River at 1 Mill St. since September 1988. “We struggled financially for several years,” said Karen this week. With a young son at home (now 6 years old) and Sam having some health problems, they started planning to sell the bar/restaurant 2-3 years ago during which time they had it on and off the market. Six to eight months ago, they started talking seriously to Dennis Schack, his wife Casey Catalano Schack and Stephen Hanrahan about buying the place. The closing took place this week—Wednesday afternoon to be exact.

The Harrises closed the doors at Sam’s for the last time at the end of February after having had a 52nd birthday celebration for Sam there on Feb. 21 with a big birthday cake, family, friends and some longtime customers. Leading up to the closing, there were also several smaller parties—softball players, corporations and, as Karen put it, “various groups of customers rallied their troops and celebrated the end.” Some people came from out of town—places like Boston and upstate Connecticut, and there were notes and emails from people in Florida who weren’t going to be around.

“It was so heartwarming and such a tribute—people coming up to you with these memories—who spent their birthday there and who met their wife there,” said Karen. “It was very emotional and bittersweet. It was just so sad to say goodbye.”

However, she said, “we’re ready to move on.” She has been teaching art, first at J.M. Wright Technical High School in Stamford, which closed last year, and now at Eli Whitney Technical High School in Hamden, Conn., while keeping regular Friday and Saturday hours at Sam’s, adding more hours in the summer.

“I’m 50 and my husband just turned 52,” said Karen. “It’s a hard business. That’s another part of it. How long can I sling drinks behind the bar?”

She’s not sure yet what Sam, who has a degree in culinary arts from Johnson and Wales, is going to do. “He’s keeping his options open,” she said. “Maybe he’s interested in catering or doing his own limo business. He’s not sure.”

“We need to decompress a little,” she said, and Sam’s going to take a little break before moving on. “He deserves it.”

Dennis and Casey Schack were regular customers at Sam’s. “I think they liked the place,” said Karen. Sam Harris and Phil Catalano, Casey’s father, grew up together in Greenwich. The Catalanos are well-known in Byram where they own Catalano & Sons boat dealership.

Will the Harrises return to Sam’s as customers in the future?

“I don’t know,” said Karen. “It’s kind of sad. It’s like selling your house and you drive by and they painted it a different color.” She said after 22 years “it was more than a business to us.” They met many friends through the years at Sam’s they will continue to socialize with.

“We’ll definitely miss Port Chester,” she said.

The new owners plan to keep the name Sam’s Bar and Grill, continuing a neighborhood tradition.

“We have a lot of respect for Sam and Karen and what they did here and don’t plan to make too many changes,” said Dennis Schack. They plan to give the place a facelift and to be open by St. Patrick’s Day, Mar. 17.

“I’ve got workers stacked on top of workers waiting to do it,” said Dennis Tuesday. “We’ll be working 24/7 starting tomorrow evening.”

“We plan to serve good food and drink at competitive prices and provide a place for everyone to come,” he said. Their motto will be: “Sam’s, where everyone’s a local.”

Plans are to keep the staples on the menu and bring back the Boomer chips people have asked for—fresh fried and spiced potato chips dating back to Boomer’s which preceded Sam’s. Schack said Ivan Lopez, who has been cooking for the Harrises, will be staying on “to make sure we keep a lot of the flavor Sam’s has been famous for.”

Dennis’s uncle and mother, who are both chefs, will be consulting on the menu, so he hopes “everyone will be pleased with the unexpected fare they get when they come in. It’s going to be more than what you expect from a bar and grill which is what Sam’s provides now. We will continue to improve on what they did.”

The fare will be American bar and grill food—nachos, burgers any way you want them, 6-8 sandwiches and 4-5 entrées. “I think everyone is going to be impressed,” said Schack. Chicken cordon bleu, chicken parmesan, New York strip steak and lamb chops are some of the entrées customers can expect.

Never fear, the steak wedges Sam’s has become famous for and the gorgonzola cheeseburgers that were my favorite—no place made them like Sam’s—will continue to be served.

The shuffleboard table will definitely stay. Schack said wellknown sportswriters from ESPN have played shuffleboard there and written about it.

As in the past, the new owners will serve dinner Monday through Friday and lunch and dinner Saturday and Sunday. Later on they will open for lunch Thursday and Friday as well.

Dennis and Casey Schack, who were married in October 2009, live in Byram. Dennis, 30, came to this area from Detroit to help his uncle who was the executive chef in the ROR Restaurant Group. ROR owns The Cookhouse restaurant chain and the Inn at Newtown. He came to work for his uncle and help him open a few restaurants. Then he worked for Post Road Entertainment, which owns the Black Bear Saloons, as general manager, then as director of operations for the owner of The Lobster House in Byram. Finally he went back to Post Road Entertainment.

“My mom and my uncle are both chefs, so I started working in restaurants when I was 14 years old and have been managing since I was 20,” said Schack,” so I have done everything from washing dishes to running companies.”

Steve Hanrahan, 38, grew up in White Plains but now lives in Croton-on-Hudson. He was manager and bartender at The Crab Shell in Stamford for eight years. He and Dennis worked together at Post Road Entertainment. Then Hanrahan left and worked as general manager of The Lobster House for the last five years.

Casey works as a physical therapist but will also be bartending and handling bookkeeping for Sam’s.

“I’ve always wanted my own place,” said Schack. “One thing I’ve learned through 10-15 years in the business is that it doesn’t’ make sense unless you own it.”

“I’ve always wanted a place that was local and involved in the community, and Sam’s provided me and my partners the opportunity to have a local spot,” added Schack. “We plan to be there the same 22 years Sam and Karen were there. With Tarry Lodge, Barcelona and Lolita, hopefully it is going to be a nice restaurant row.” As we reported in January, after a complete renovation, the owners of the Barcelona restaurant group plan to open Bartaco, serving gourmet tacos and margaritas, at the site of the former Ebb Tide Seafood at 1 Willett Ave.

Hostaria Mazzei

We know Tony Longo, who owns Park Deli, and Godfrey Polistina, who grew up in Port Chester and used to be involved in Carmine’s in Manhattan, are among the partners who have bought the former Hostaria Mazzei at 25 South Regent St. So far I’ve been unable to find out exactly what their plans are for the restaurant, which closed at the end of 2009.

Other goings-on

I just noticed last weekend that Café Brazil USA at 37-39 North Main St. is closed for renovations, or at least that’s what a sign on the door on the Abendroth Avenue side of the restaurant says. We know that usually means it’s closed and may reopen under new ownership or management and maybe under a new name. The fence gate in front of the property is padlocked, and brown paper covers the windows.

Property owner Richard Cuddy did not return a phone call seeking more information.

In addition, El Volcan Restaurant Peruano at 30 Broad St., which was known primarily as a nightclub, lost its liquor license last month and is closed.

We thought Subway or a similar fast food restaurant was coming to 19 North Main St., but now it doesn’t look like it. The space has been renovated, but there is no indication so far it’s going to be a restaurant. I left two messages this week for Neil Pagano at CJ Pagano & Sons, which owns the property, but did not hear back.

 

This is part of the online edition of Rye Brook Westmore News.

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