P&Z Approves Liquor Permit for Tula Restaurant & Lounge

Umberto Morale and Tom Carney want to transform the former Captain's Pizza building at 89 Main Street into a European-style bistro with a bar. The Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved a liquor permit application and site improvements Thursday night to make it happen.

Morale of Trumbull and Carney, a chef who lives in Shelton, will operate Tula Restaurant & Lounge. They are leasing the property from Greg Kapetoneas of Easton.

"I'm just happy we can move full speed, so hopefully in a couple of months we can be ready for the summer," Morale said after the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting at Monroe Town Hall.

Captain's Pizza had closed nearly five years ago. The building is being renovated and additional parking spaces will be added. Among the conditions of approval, the P&Z wants the applicant to submit a landscaping plan.

Morale, who moved to the United States from Italy in 1993, said he worked at restaurants while going to college. His longtime friend, Tom Carney, has worked as a chef in several Fairfield restaurants, including Spazi, Sonoma, Tommy's and Side Tracks. He currently cooks in the kitchen of The Gray Goose Cafe in Southport.

Tula Restaurant & Lounge will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The P&Z approved the liquor permit application and site improvements by 5-0 vote, with Chairman Richard Zini, Vice Chairman Patrick O'Hara and fellow commissioners Joel Leneker, William Porter and Karen Martin all in favor.

"It's consistent with the zone as a business similar to what was there before," O'Hara said after the vote. "The applicant agreed to improve the building's appearance with the Architectural Review Board."

Zini said it met all of the zoning regulations and was consistent with the Town Plan of Conservation & Development.

The first floor of an office building behind the restaurant has been used by a one-man printing business for the past five years, and the now vacant second floor previously housed a mortgage company.

Based upon this information and Morale saying the maximum staffing for Tula at any one time would be six, the commission required eight clearly marked employee parking spaces.

Among the conditions are no live entertainment, all signs must be approved and the existing patio may not be used without an application being made for outdoor seating.

David Bjorklund of Spath Bjorklund & Associates, Inc., who represented the applicant, said the restaurant did not intend to use the patio.