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After an abrupt closure two weeks ago, Annona Restaurant, the Italian eatery located above Manhattan Motorcars of the Hamptons on Old Riverhead Road in Westhampton Beach, will re-open on Thursday, December 3, according to owner Richard Rubio.
The restaurant and luxury car dealership closed Halloween weekend after Mr. Rubio said he could not work out a new lease with the owner of the building. Mr. Rubio’s car dealership, which once occupied the first floor of the same building, will continue to operate from a smaller showroom that is located across the street until a new lease for the first floor space can be inked, he said.
“We’re all extremely excited,” Mr. Rubio said Monday about the pending reopening of his restaurant.
Mr. Rubio explained that he is now waiting for the new lease for the restaurant to be delivered to him. He added that the new agreement is for “between five and 15” years.
“We wanted to open the restaurant as soon as possible,” he said. “We didn’t want to lose momentum with customers because we are open year-round.”
Manhattan Motorcars of the Hamptons, the luxury car dealership that filed for bankruptcy in May, is now operating across the street at Westhampton Coachworks, an auto repair shop that Mr. Rubio also owns. The larger showroom closed the same weekend as Annona Restaurant. The eatery, which opened in 2005, is not in bankruptcy, he said.
Mr. Rubio declined to name his former business partner, who also owns the building at 112 Old Riverhead Road. The owner is listed as Westhampton Beach Holding, LLC of New York City, according to town records. The owner of the property could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Rubio attributed the quick re-opening of Annona to members of the community.
“We agreed that it’s best for the village to have something open than to have a vacant building,” he said.
Pietro Bottero, the manager and executive chef at Annona, said that there was a huge outpouring of support from the community after news spread of the restaurant’s closing. He added that nearly all of Annona’s 28 employees will return to work next month.
“We’re so excited to have something back,” Mr. Bottero said.
on Nov 10, 2009