Madigan's Cafe In, Prince's Hill Deli Out

Madigan’s Café and Wine Bar will replace Prince’s Hill Deli at the same location on County Road in the Prince’s Hill Plaza in late July.

Yes, the deli owned and operated by Tom and Brenda Melillo of Seekonk for more than 13 years will close and the café to be owned and operated by Robyn Rowles of Barrington will open its doors. She is perhaps better known as a photographer and the owner of the Artist in You studio on Maple Avenue.

“My family was in the restaurant industry,” Rowles said. “And I had a café in Edinburgh, Scotland, when I lived there for three years.”

Also, she added, “I played restaurant as a child.” 

So, Rowles is not a complete newcomer to the idea and operation of a restaurant. But as a photographer and mother of four children, it will definitely be a change.

Rowles named the restaurant after her youngest child, Madigan, a little more than a year old.

Location might be the only thing that Madigan’s Café will have in common with Prince’s Hill Deli. It will not be a deli, Rowles said.

“I see it as a bistro with a gourmet flare,” she said. “We’ll change the menu every three to five weeks. And we’ll cook with in-season local food.”

She also is adding beer and wine to the eatery’s menu.

Expect also to see a European-style coffee bar, with espresso, cappuccino, and lattes, and a pastry section with lots of breads and a creamy doughnut that could be unique to the area.

“I want it to be casual and comfortable,” Rowles said.

Several tables might be replaced with sofas, she said. Photographs shot by many of her students at Artist in You already hang on the deli’s walls. They will stay hanging there depending on what she does with the studio.

The restaurant will be open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There also will be an after-school menu for students to stop by in the afternoon, she said.

To please her own children, Rowles said, the menu will include chicken fingers, French fries and pizza.

Rowles will share the cooking with a close friend, Jeffrey Stanhope, who will serve as executive chef. 

So, what about Tom and Brenda?

He expects both of them to keep on working.

“I’m not retiring,” said Melillo, age 68. “And she’s too young to retire.”

But running the deli just became too much for them, he said. That’s why he put the deli up for sale about a year ago.

“It’s time to move on,” Melillo said. “I’m really happy about this.”

As soon as he hands Rowles the key to the door, Melillo said, “I’m hooking up the trailer to the car and heading to Cape Cod with my family for two weeks.”

After he gets back, Melillo said, he plans to start looking for a job.

“Sales on the road,” he said with a grin.

Melillo said he’s done that before, among a variety of other jobs, including selling insurance, before he got into the deli business.

For now, though, the Melillos will be counting the days until the transition to the café takes place.