Allston could see new organic pizza restaurant

Universal Hub
Allston could become launching pad for new chain of organic pizza places
By adamg - 11/3/10 - 11:05 pm

Abandoned convenience storeAbandoned convenience store: To become earthy pizza place?

The Boston Licensing Board decides tomorrow whether to approve an earth-friendly organic pizzeria on Commmonwealth Avenue - and whether a plain-old existing pizza place on Brighton Avenue should be allowed to stay open until 3 a.m.

Stephen Silverman's proposed Ecco Pizzeria, which he envisions as the first of a new chain of organic pizzerias, would replace an abandoned mini-mart at 1147 Comm. Ave. It's gotten a far friendlier reception from neighbors and city officials than a request from Bravo Pizza, 160 Brighton Ave., to extend its hours until 3 a.m. seven days a week.

At a hearing today, Silverman told board Chairman Michael Connolly he wants to serve "artisanal, organic and natural pizza, salad and ice cream," out of a "green" pizza shop that would use earth-friendly materials such as bamboo flooring. He said he would also install composting and recycling systems - and buy a bicycle for making deliveries instead of a car. He does not plan to seek a beer and wine license.

The offices of Mayor Tom Menino and City Councilor Mark Ciommo gave strong endorsements to his proposal.

Allston Civic Association President Paul Berkeley said his group also supports the plan - except for Silverman's proposed 2 a.m. closing. He said that while the association realizes the neighborhood is full of businesses and young people who want later hours - and that the association has begun talking to them about how to come up with a standard closing time acceptable to everybody - 2 a.m. is just too late.

Silverman said he does not know if he would wind up staying open until 2 a.m. every night, but wants the ability to figure out if he can make money serving the mushrooming and currently unmet Allston demand for late-night organic pizza.

In contrast, Bravo Pizza owner Michael Rezza's request to stay open until 3 a.m. got a far crustier reaction.

Rezza said he's just trying to make some more money in tough economic times - and to help the drunks coming out of local bars stay out of trouble. "it might be better for them to eat something before they get behind the wheel of a car." He added it's a unfair to limit him to his current closing time of 2 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

The mayor's office, Ciommo's office and Berkeley, however, aren't buying it.

Berkeley said that, any way you slice it, the request is exactly the sort of "slippery slope" his group has been warning the licensing board about for years, and that the last thing the association wants is liquored-up bar goers hanging around. "We'd like them to get out of our neighborhood and go home and not hang around our neighborhood for a couple of hours."

Rezza replied that many of his customers actually live in the neighborhood.

In other Allston liquor news, Berkeley said his group favored a license swap that would see Pizzeria Uno sell the full liquor license for its defunct outlet at Harvard and Comm. avenues to Big City, which in turn would sell its beer and wine license to Buk Kyung, a Korean restaurant at 151 Brighton Ave. Big City in particular, he said, has been a very good neighbor in its 12 years in Allston. He added the group also supports promoter Don Law's plan to replace Harpers Ferry with the Brighton Music Hall.

Motioning to a Universal Hub correspondent in the back of the room, he noted these positive votes, along with the general support of the Ecco proposal, shows the association doesn't simply oppose everything.