San Pedro Cafe Closed This Week for Renovations

, one of historic downtown Hudson's top dining destinations, is out of commission this week as workers hurry to give it a serious facelift.

The eatery closed at 3 p.m. on Sunday and plans to re-open in time for dinner on Friday night with a fresh new look.

"So far everything is on schedule," said Pete Foster, managing partner of San Pedro Cafe. "Basically, we gutted the entire space other than the kitchen. We're putting in an entire new back bar—it's kind of an old-world, Caribbean-style back bar and it's constructed out of 100-year-old reclaimed wormy oak." 

The restaurant's new 16-seat bar will replace its six-seat cafe counter and provide a bit of a wow factor as customers enter.

"The bar top itself will be constructed from Brazilian granite with a real Caribbean look to it," Foster said. "It looks like a satellite shot of Earth with swirls of blues and greens and tans as you look down on it."

In addition to the bar, Foster said there will be raised booth seating with leather booths and glass partitions for comfort and privacy. The patio area will be getting refrehsed as well.

After 11 years, Foster said it was time to make some of the changes that customers have been asking for over the years, but he said many things that customers love won't change at all.

"The menu, the concept and the staff will remain the same," Foster said.

The kitchen area, with its woodfire pizza oven, ventilation system and cooking equipment, will remain largely untouched. 

And, of course, San Pedro's signature fish tank isn't going away.

"Our saltwater aquarium will remain in place, but now it will be behind the bar," Foster said. "That's going to be freshened up with new creatures."

Though the front windows of the shop have been papered over, Foster said he wants to give those interested a peek at what's going on inside during the remodel. Video is being shot of the work as it progresses and he is hoping to set up a live web video feed of the work as well.

Check the San Pedro Cafe page on Facebook for updates about construction and to see if Foster can get the live web video feed up and running.