Picture Enfield - Then And Now

ENFIELD, CT — This morning, I received an email from a young lady asking about a throwback column I had written some time ago about Hotzy's Restaurant. Turns out it was three and a half years ago, so why not run it again for the benefit of the thousands of new readers we've acquired since that time.

The photo comes from a delightful book, entitled I Took a Little Trip to My Hometown. Self-published by retired freelance photographer John Zirolli, the book contains hundreds of pictures of Enfield taken between 1973 and 1985, as well as anecdotes from Mr. Zirolli about those days. It is available on amazon.com.

Hotzy's Italian-American restaurant was located at 920 Enfield Street, just north of High Street and Freshwater Brook. Alphonse "Fofo" Albano owned Hotzy's from 1967 until his death at age 56 in 1977. Among the employees who worked there during that period were cook Frank "Cheech" Ferrante, Shirley Watton and David Derosiers.

During the "urban renewal" project of the late 1970s, the building was torn down and replaced with a small strip mall in 1979. Among the current tenants are the Whole Donut, Domino's Pizza and Enfield Liquor and Wine.

Here is a more contemporary look at the property:

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question was, "Tammie (Repass) Mangold, a 2014 inductee into the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame, alone holds what distinction that no other Hall of Famer can claim?" The answer: to date, she is the only member of the Hall of Fame who had previously been awarded the organization's scholarship. She was Fermi High School's recipient in 1999.

This week's trivia question:
In the 1950s and 1960s, what was the name of the Pearl Street retail shop owned and operated by the mother of the lead dancer on "The Carol Burnett Show"? Directions: leave your answer in the comments section here on the story, not on a Facebook page, and not via email. Have fun!