Published: January 21, 2008 09:51 pm            

VILLAGE OF LEWISTON: New bar caters to comfort

Owners say they want space to have “English pub-like” feel

Those who enter the village’s new bar at 840 Center St. might not recognize the surroundings.

That’s because in four months it’s gone from a former “Miami Vice bar,” complete with an overabundance of mirrors and neon lights, to a quaint English pub with gourmet tap beer, a mahogany bar and plenty of large screens to watch sporting events.

“You cater to the masses and not the classes,” said Kenneth Scibetta, a Cambria resident and a co-owner. “We want people to come to the bar and leave here knowing they had a great time.”

Scibetta and Edward Webster, the other co-owner, held the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the bar, named the Lewiston Village Pub, on Saturday. In the next several weeks they will open the building’s kitchen with the food of Tom Antonucci, owner of Lewiston-based Vincenzo’s Pizza House and chef Dave Shurtleff.

Webster and Scibetta have known each other for several years, having met while working at the Water Street Landing. They’re leasing the building from Jeff Williams.

Giving customers a genuine, warm experience is a priority for the bar’s co-owners. During interviews, both emphasized their genuine desire to make the pub a place that people want to visit and hate to leave.

“It seems these days that you don’t get treated like you should be,” Scibetta said. “You’re just a number, just a dollar sign to people. What we want to do here is know your name and take care of you like we would like to be taken care of.”

The space is separated into a bar — with tables, an 8-foot projector screen and two big-screen televisions — and a lounge with a pool table, arcade games and two couches from the 1930s that were used in previous bars in that space and have been restored. Eventually, the co-owners would like to have at least 100 beers available, and possibly double their draft beer selection to 40.

“The thing I love about the bar industry is taking care of people, and I think that’s what makes a place great,” Webster said. “We’re just trying to put together a vision.”

The pub has been an early success, with a wall-to-wall crowd on Saturday. Webster arrived at work late Monday afternoon to find a group of people waiting to come inside for the 4 p.m. Buffalo Sabres game.

“We have a semi-mature population here,” he said of Lewiston. “I’m not looking to get people really drunk. They just sit down and have a couple and talk and enjoy the sports.”

Once the kitchen is ready, a menu will likely include steaks, hamburgers, sandwiches and traditional bar fare. They’ll offer the speedie sandwich — which Scibetta called Binghamton’s version of the chicken wing — which will include kabobs of chicken, beef and lamb served on a skewer with a piece of DiCamillo’s bread on the side.

“It’ll be a big thing here,” Scibetta said. “It’s very tasty.”

        

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