New Corner Restaurant is reopen for business after a two week semi-break when the restaurant underwent renovations. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
The New Corner Restaurant has a new look. It may be the last one under its current ownership.
The pizzeria, at East Front Street and Globe Court in Red Bank, reopened Monday after a two-week makeover in which owners John and Angela Coccurello completed an interior overhaul — all while maintaining a brisk take-out and delivery business.
But the changes are the start of what the Coccurellos say will be the final phase of an ownership run that’s lasted 25 years. Up next: a move to Italy.
For New Corner devotees, there’s no cause for alarm yet. The Coccurellos say they have no firm timetable for their return to Angela’s hometown of La Maddalena, Italy, a small island off Sardinia where Benito Mussolini was once held prisoner and that, for 35 years, was a home base for Navy submarines to pull in for R&R.
“One day soon,” they say, they’ll head back.
“I got to be with my family for 25 years here, so it’s time we spend time with her family,” said John, who met Angela in 1978 when he was a sailor stationed in La Maddalena.
In the meantime, customers can soak in what Angela Coccurello calls a more “cozy” feel at the restaurant.
They ditched the 70s-era pizza pastiche of booths and green walls for a floor filled with mahogany tables accented with a rustic yellow paint on the walls, mirrors and a shiny, new HDTV. They pulled up the tiles and replaced them, and installed a granite counter at the pizza and oven area.
And, as they’ve done since 1985, when they bought the space, all the work was done by the Coccurello family, except for the floor tiles and new awnings outside.
The last renovation was done 15 years ago, Coccurello said.
“It was time for an update,” she said. “This is the thank-you to the customers. We put their money to good use.”
The restaurant reopened Monday and was busy yesterday.
“It was like everybody was just happy to see the new facelift,” said Angela. “It makes me feel good that they want to come back and were waiting for us.”
There’s just one thing missing from the new look she said she’s got to fix: There used to be pictures of La Maddalena hanging on the walls.
“I’ve got to put them back up,” she said.
In other news related to the Red Bank pizza parade, Pazzo’s Coal-Fired Oven Restaurant is still under the mysterious brown paper veil that pending businesses put in their windows before opening, but the borough council approved a liquor license transfer to the West Front Street restaurant.
And on Broad Street, workers are plugging away at getting the enviro-pizza chain Pizza Fusion ready to go. The latest from the restaurant’s Twitter feed says fingers are crossed for a March 29 opening.
Congratulations to John and Angela, the place looks great. Good Luck and can’t wait to stop in for lunch. Asset to the town.
Can some list all of the pizza places in Red Bank now?
Is there a town our size that has more?
Jimmy, it’s impossible to count. That is why I am a huge advocate of implementing a pizza tax in Red Bank. My suggestion never seems to get much traction, but you can’t tell me that it would not be a formidable cash-cow. A nickel a pie, a penny a slice. That’s my two cents…..for lunch. It would be perfect. It could probably pull in like $7500 per year. Of course we need to hire Stanley as the pizza tax czar - I think $8000 a year would be a fair salary.
OK, we can crowdsource this pizza place list. I’ll start, and include places that are supposed to open soon.
Tommy’s
1) New Corner
2) Mr. Pizza Slice
3) Brothers
4) Mangia! Mangia!
5) Gianni’s
6) Pacini’s
7) Pizza Fusion
9) Pazzo’s
10) Delfini’s
11) Domino’s
12) Basil T’s
13) Zebu
14) West Side Deli
15) Angelina’s (the place next to Butch’s car wash)
16) Front St. Trattoria
17) Torcello
18) Danny’s
19) Gaetano’s
20) La Pastaria
21) Monticello
22) Racioppi’s
23) The Bistro
24) The Downtown
What did I miss?
Why does Tommy’s have a smiley? Does RBG automatically turn an 8 followed by a ) into a smiley? Let’s see:
forgot “La Sporto” on Shrewsbury Avenue
A couple of years back, when gas was upwards of $4 a gallon. New Corner raised prices,and put a sign in the counter,blaming the cost of gas as impacting the price they pay for dairy products. The sign also said something to the affect of hoping that the higher pricing would be temporary and that they hoped to reduce prices to previous levels sometime in the future….
I never saw the prices rolled back. I guess that is what financed the renovation…
if all the pizza places are making money then it goes to show that everyone is eating pizza and not cooking. This is hip town so go out for pizza I guess. why all the hub about other people’s places of business. i think they all probably had the same idea of a freakin pizza place at the same time. The good ones will survive and the fad stores will disappear. no big deal. move on to another topic
Bill, the Dublin House did that too, right around the same time. When gas was $4/gallon, they raised the price of a pint from $5.00, to $5.50, to $6.00 now. Bartender Luke explained fuel costs had caused their distributor to hike prices. Instead of absorbing this increase for the relatively short time gas was selling at those record levels, the Dublin House immediately passed the cost on to its loyal customers. The price of a pint in today’s $2.50/gallon market? You guessed it: $6.00.
I guess the Dub needed to finance its fancy renovations as well.
That move cost the Dub my loyalty, and as a result, I rarely venture there any longer for my Harp fix. I step on over to Vingo or Spirits for mine, and enjoy it in the comfort of home in a nice frosted imperial pint glass. It wouldn’t surprise me if others have taken a shine to the Harp 12-pack, which sells for ~$11 at most discount retailers.
I hope other price-gouging proprietors out there are paying attention. The wallet speaks volumes.
hmmmmmm…….Makes sense to me.great point laura, your right and it has reflected in the other locals that use to frequent the house.
Zebu? is Zebu still open? since all their other stores have closed, are they even still in business, I’ve heard they have big problems with the EOE, since they have a white only hiring policy (except of course if your an illegal immigrant that works 80 hours a week, for half pay and no benefits) oh and their Pizza stinks too! Good Riddance!
Your list is a little out of whack. Calling Bistro a pizza place is a stretch. Your list is places that serve pizza. That is different than a “Pizza Place”. I could say that there are more steakhouses in Redbank and create almost the same list and add 15 more places that have steak on the menu.
The criteria is the majority of revenue is pizza related.
Pizza Places:
Tommy’s
1) New Corner
2) Mr. Pizza Slice
3) Brothers
4) Mangia! Mangia!
5) Gianni’s
6) Pacini’s
7) Pizza Fusion
9) Pazzo’s
10) Domino’s
11) Angelina’s
Other places that serve pizza:
Front St. Trattoria
Delfini’s
Basil T’s
Zebu
West Side Deli
Torcello
Danny’s
Gaetano’s
La Pastaria
Racioppi’s
The Bistro
The Downtown
Monticello
Who put you in charge ddppmm?
The full name of La Pasteria is “La Pasteria Pizza & Pasta.”
Mamma call it a pizza place - I call it a pizza place.
Agree ddppmm…agree with bored too
I like ddppmm’s list. I had the same thought while I was making the list when I got to Basil T’s; I just don’t think of it as a pizza place. And I didn’t even realize that Gaetano’s served pizza until I started searching.
But I didn’t feel competent to determine how to separate the list. I think ddppmm did a good job. What do others think? Should La Pastaris be on the “pizza place” list? Any other places that should move up?