Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Chef Molly Mogavero prepares fresh bread every morning before most people start on their first cup of coffee.
“My day starts really early,” Mogavero, who co-owns EAT Bistro & Drinks in New Castle with her husband Jeff Ellis, said. “It’s so important for me to provide a gathering space where people can just sit down and break bread.”
Since opening in September 2017, EAT Bistro & Drinks has served entrees that span the globe including blackened Alaskan halibut, homemade lasagna rollatini and even Philly cheese steak out of a building, which dates back to the late nineteenth century.
“It was built in 1890 and it’s still standing today,” Mogavero said.
However, with an indoor seating capacity of just 24, Mogavero and Ellis plan to add a 900-square-foot barroom to EAT Bistro & Drinks’ existing location at 316 W. Main St.
Ellis, a professional architect, has doubled as the mom and pop eatery’s bartender since the restaurant’s inception.
Following a couple years of preparing customer favorites like the Cosmo Kramer out of a small space in the restaurant’s kitchen, the couple decided it was time to add a barroom.
“A lot of people, they come in and see the restaurant is full and they don’t want to wait,” Mogavero said. “We are expanding because we want to accommodate everybody.”
The addition, which will practically double EAT Bistro & Drinks’ size, will include a bar and lounge area where patrons can enjoy craft cocktails, wine and beer.
“You’ll enter into the barroom and you’ll be able to walk through to the dining room area,” Ellis said. “We’ll be keeping the same ambiance and atmosphere but it’ll be a little bit more casual.”
The new barroom, like the restaurant’s dining room, will not include TVs but instead provide a community gathering space where residents and tourists alike can converse over hot food and cold drinks.
“It’ll be a place to gather and have a really nice conversation,” Mogavero said. “Those things seem to get lost nowadays with modern technology.”
Mogavero and Ellis hope to open EAT Bistro & Drinks’ new barroom in January 2020 and may start serving drinks a little earlier and stop later than the restaurant’s traditional hours.
EAT Bistro & Drinks serves dinner from 5-9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
“We’ve got the most amazing staff,” Mogavero said. “People feel like they are coming home when they come in to EAT.”
