Village Bakery will move into old Vito’s space
Also, new yoga coming, plus news on JoAnn Fabrics
I told you earlier this month that I had news about the old Uncle Vito’s space at 524 Second St. in Davis. Well, the owner of Village Bakery signed the lease, and plans to move it there in a few months.
Aziz Fattahi said he lost the lease to the space at 814 Second St. that he’s rented since opening Village Bakery in 1997. More on that later.
He submitted plans for the new spot three weeks ago, and hopes to have it open in four or five months.
“It will be a bakery/pizzeria. Mostly what I’m doing at the bakery but at a bigger scale,” along with beer and wine, more coffee drinks, and a full espresso bar, he said.
Village Bakery serves New York style pizza and slices. Those large, round pizzas are thick and crisp along the edge but thin and pliable under the toppings. Along with that, the new restaurant will also serve Roman style pizza al taglio, a square pizza on a thicker, focaccia-like base with lots of colorful, flavorful toppings.” As is tradition, those slices will be sold by weight.
Fattahi also owns Village Pizza & Pints at 236 B St., which serves Neapolitan pizza – artisan pizzas that are smaller and round with thin dough and high edges. And, he owns a wholesale production bakery on Spafford Street in Davis.
For the Vito’s space, he hopes to obtain a permit for outdoor seating and a parklet along E Street that would replace a couple of parking spots. He envisions a covered, fenced patio much like Mikuni’s.
“I think overall, there’s a lot of foot traffic there, more than where I am right now. But I’m probably going to lose some of my regulars who are coming off the train,” Fattahi said. “I’m just looking forward to doing more of what I do … plus more seating.” The new space is 2,200 square feet and the old one is under 900.
But Fattahi said he just turned 68, and wasn’t looking for a change. “I was comfortable there. People know who we are. We make good pizzas, good pastries, great breads. I didn’t want to move. … This is going to cost a lot of money. Basically, I’m forced to do this.”
Fattahi said he already used his options for extending the lease but the new landlords assured him something would work out. Then, “I just got a letter saying, ‘Your lease is up, when are you going to move out’?”
The Depot Building at Second and G streets was purchased four years ago by Pratibha Realtors LLC, a group that includes Kishore Immareddy of Preethi Indian Cuisine in Davis, Prem Jonnala of Folsom, and other partners from Rancho Cordova and the Bay Area.
When I contacted Immareddy, he referred me to Jonnala, who said the landlords didn’t push their tenant out.
“(Aziz) never extended his lease,” said Jonnala, whose wife plans to open an eatery there. “That’s my place and I wanted to set up a business. We were generous enough. We understand he set up this business with his own hands. We don’t want to push him out.”
Jonnala said he has some considerations too. “My wife recently lost her job and we had some financial difficulties ... We need to set up a business to earn some money.”
Fattahi said Jonnala wanted the bakery because it’s successful, and the group investigated buying the production bakery.
But Jonnala said they are not trying to copy the Village Bakery model. “We want to set up our own business and create our own thing.”