Owner of Venetian Moon OK'd for Liquor at New Italian Eatery

Owner of  Anthony Cavallo was in and out within 15 minutes and with the OK for a full liquor license from Peabody's Licensing Board last week.

Cavallo is similar to Venetian Moon at the . He said he is planning for a mid-September opening.

The new eatery, which will have a full bar, is called "Scosso" and will take over the vacant space left by Bertucci's when it closed in 2009.

Cavallo said the restaurant will have seating for 200 inside over two levels, as Bertucci's did, plus 30 seats outdoors for seasonal dining. He said the look and feel of Scosso will be similar but different than the Venetian Moon.

The majority of renovations planned are for a new entranceway to allow direct access to Scosso from outside the building and a patio for the outdoor seating. The existing mall entrance is between and .

The new entrance will also allow the restaurant to operate independently of mall shopping hours. 

Cavallo said he would be launching a website soon to accept employment applications and spread the word of Scosso's impending arrival.

Licensing Board members agreed to issue the license without any objections on June 11. The license was one of two remaining new all-alchol licenses the city controlled. Peabody received  due to the population increase identified in the 2010 U.S. Census.

The license then only costs Cavallo $2,250 to the city and $200 to the state plus some filing fees, which is far less than a business would ever pay to buy a license on the market.

In recent years, Red’s Tavern & Kitchen paid Bertucci’s $125,000 for its all-alcohol license. The bar was set high in 2007 when the  paid Linda Binari, owner of the former Collins Cafe, $135,000 for her full liquor license, and  purchased the license formerly used by the Bel-Aire Diner for $125,000.