NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/category/new-canaan-business-2)
New Canaan businesses are the lifeblood not just of the “Magic Circle” downtown and other hubs of arts and commerce, but also are critical drivers and supporters of community events, human services and preserving the character of “The Next Station to Heaven.” In this section, we spotlight New Canaan businesses and profile their owners, in long-form interviews and spot features, celebrating our anchor businesses and welcoming those new to town.
Teriyaki East, the Asian fusion restaurant that opened this spring on East Avenue, has closed, according to its owner. Rafael Marin, the chef/owner of La Pescaderia, the popular Venezuelan seafood market and restaurant next door, said he came to a point where he wanted to focus on the existing business rather than both. The Asian fusion restaurant closed Nov. 2, he said. Marin said he’s now selling its assets to restaurateurs.
Marko Micic and Amy Cherrez—natives of Serbia and Ecuador, respectively, and lifelong dancers who became professionals before coming to the United States—met in May 2023 while each of them worked for different studios. The two began dancing together, developed a relationship and started to talk about launching a business. “We both had an interest in owning something that was ours,” Micic said. Now they do. Two weeks ago, the New Haven couple’s vision became a reality when Cherrez and Micic opened Fred Astaire Dance Studios New Canaan at 111 Main St., a second-floor space formerly occupied by the Caren Forbes store.
One of New Canaan’s hottest salons has a new owner. Gianna Parente has been with the salon formerly known as “Divaz,” now Dashing Diva Beauty, since she was 17. Taking over the business’s lease in August, after the previous owner decided not to renew, the native New Yorker formed a connection to New Canaan through her years of working here. “Truthfully, I feel like I grew up here,” Parente told the New Canaanite. “I’ve been here since I was very young, and when my boss was not going to re-sign, I kind of was like, oh my god, I can’t see us all not being together, I can’t see our clients leaving.
The original idea that four New Canaan High School friends developed this summer was to give parents a chance to have their younger kids learn in a different, after-school-club-like environment. Then the friends—juniors Valentina Baldini, Victoria Greer, Saira Isfahani and Morgan Pitts—thought they may start a tutoring and homework club. In the end, they created a new business where each brings their unique knowledge and skill set to a tutoring service for New Canaan students K-6. “I feel like something that we add that or can provide that not a lot of tutors can do is that we can relate more to these children and understand more of what they want because we are of a younger age, while we still understand what they’re learning,” Greer told NewCanaanite.com during an interview Monday afternoon at The Farmer’s Grind café in New Canaan Library. WIth the newly launched business, called “Study Buddies”—here on Instagram and here on Facebook—the four 16-year-olds lean into their own backgrounds as students in New Canaan Public Schools (among them, they attended all three elementary schools) and participation in the school community to connect with K-6 kids and help them learn.
Registration is open through Nov. 1 for local businesses and organizations seeking to participate in one of New Canaan’s most popular programs for high school seniors. Some 98% of New Canaan High School’s 324 seniors are expected to participate in the internship program that runs for the last three-and-a-half weeks of the academic year. The unpaid Senior Internship Program will see participating NCHS seniors earn .25 school credits for working 25 hours per week—typically between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.—from May 20 to June 13, 2025, organizers say. “This brings a wonderful opportunity not only for our students but also the hosts,” Senior Internship Coordinator Kelly Delmazio told NewCanaanite.com.