Business

Former ‘Silvermine Market’ Owners Seek New Space in New Canaan

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The longtime former owners of the Silvermine Market in New Canaan are seeking a commercial space to set up shop again. Mainly serving breakfast and lunch, Lou Aloupis—who ran the market along with chef Scott Kaluczky for 20 years through 2025—told NewCanaanite.com that the pair are “trying to find a new location to do what we did there somewhere else.” (A new restaurant is planned for the space at 1032 Silvermine Road following the building’s sale earlier this year.)

“After 20 years, the building’s old and it was time for us to go,” Aloupis said during an interview in New Canaan on a recent morning. “We love what we do, we’re passionate about what we do, we’re committed and convicted. Now it’s just a matter of finding the next location.”

Through the economic downturn of 2008, Hurricane Sandy and the pandemic, Aloupis said, the Silvermine Market kept reinventing itself to accommodate its customers and, as a result, forged deep ties with the Silvermine and wider community. That’s the main reason they’re seeking to reopen.

Business

New Restaurant Planned for ‘Silvermine Market’ Space

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Closed since November, the Silvermine Market—located across the street from an established art gallery and school bearing the same neighborhood name—is to relaunch this year as a more upscale bistro, the property’s new owner said. With a hopeful opening this fall—following a sorely needed and extensive renovation—the new restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and is designed to be “calm and nice,” according to Pavel Jansa. 

“It will be a small, cozy restaurant,” he told NewCanaanite.com. The new restaurant will incorporate the word ‘Silvermine’ into its name and likely will feature live piano-playing, Jansa said. Style-wise, “it’s going to be pretty much the same” though there will not be a bank of fridges such as seen in “a regular deli,” he said. “It’s going to be more, more upscale, cleaner,” said Jansa, a Weston resident.

Who Knew: Taking the Eight Sandwich Challenge

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‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. Once upon a time, men dressed like Cary Grant, and sandwiches were what people ate for lunch. From kindergarten classrooms to corporate boardrooms, one could observe people at midday consuming an ingeniously portable combination of ‘bread’ and ‘things.’ There was an order to life, and while I’m not suggesting that correlation is causation, it’s worth noting that, back when we all ate sandwiches, nobody wore Celtics jerseys on airplanes or flossed their teeth on the subway. 



Perhaps it’s a profusion of choice–granted, much of it positive and health-minded—that’s gotten us away from such norms. Kindergarteners, if Instagram is to be believed, now dine on elaborate bento boxes of hand-shelled edamame, hummus, and gluten-free, organic pretzels. Office folks can now Uber Eats an uninspired hexagonal tub from Sweetgreen, undertip the guy in the lobby, and sprint back to volley emails into oblivion. 

It’s also the sandwich’s fault, or at least the modern fast-casual incarnation of the sandwich’s fault, that our ardor for a handheld square of lunchtime bliss has cooled. Have you ever been to a Panera?

Business

Town Officials Approve Outdoor Location for Walk-In Fridge at Silvermine Market (Expanded Menu To Follow)

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Town officials on Monday approved a request from the owner of Silvermine Market to locate a new walk-in refrigerator permanently outside his 1895 building, freeing up more kitchen space inside for a soon-to-expand menu. Noting the narrow lot at 1032 Silvermine Road and saying that the market has coexisted with the Silvermine Arts Guild next-door for many decades, the Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-0 in favor of granting a variance (which was needed because the walk-in unit is located within a side yard setback). The market’s owner for nearly 10 years, Lou Aloupis, said that following an approximately $25,000 interior renovation, the kitchen has a new hood, grill and pizza oven. He and Chef Scott Kaluczky are perfecting their homemade Neapolitan pizza-making process now and plan to offer it on their menu after Labor Day, and also will add freshly grilled burgers and hot dogs after September, Aloupis said. Silvermine Market customers “are all excited,” he said Tuesday afternoon during the lunch rush.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Scroll through the gallery above to view five new signs and awnings that soon will appear in downtown New Canaan, following approval Tuesday night by the Planning & Zoning Commission. ***

“I’m for toilet equality.”—That’s what Town Hall Building Committee member Kathleen Corbet had to say about a matter that came to the forefront in the weeks after Town Hall reopened following an $18 million renovation and expansion. The architects on the project created two water closets but no urinals in the men’s rooms, citing space and compliance issues. For the record, fellow committee member Neil Budnick said: “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

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A mixed-breed dog struck by a car near the intersection of Oenoke Ridge and Country Club Roads last Wednesday around 2:15 p.m. appears to be faring OK after the animal was brought to Cornell Veterinary Hospital in Stamford. ***

This week, 31 New Canaan kids attended a basketball camp in Stroudsburg, Pa.