Lynn to welcome two new eateries

LYNN – Veteran restaurateur Robert Rossetti and baker Joseph Torretta are hiring 42 employees who will begin making and serving food by mid-September in the renovated building their businesses share on Sutton Street.Torretta, owner of D’Amici’s Bakery, has overseen a more than $1 million renovation of the building at the corner of Liberty Street two blocks from City Hall and District Court.D’Amici’s has outgrown its Eastern Avenue location, and Torretta and his wife and business co-owner, Sarah, will continue selling baked goods in East Lynn, but move their bakery production business to Sutton Street.”We look at Lynn as our home,” Torretta said.The Torrettas will use part of the building for production and operate a 25-seat eatery serving baked goods and breakfast. They plan to open at the end of August and Rossetti plans to open his 78-seat restaurant next to D’Amici’s shortly after Labor Day.Rossetti has operated his Winthrop namesake restaurant for 10 years and said he looked around the North Shore for a second location before settling on Lynn. He picked the city, in part, because it is fairly close to Winthrop, making it easy for suppliers and employees to move between his two eateries.”I did my due diligence from Middleton to Marblehead Neck. I literally looked at every town in between but the stars just aligned,” he said.The City Council in April approved Rossetti’s plans to move downtown and the Off Street Parking Commission in March voted to change the entrance to the 115-space Andrew Street city parking lot from Andrew to Sutton Street at the corner of Liberty Street.”I’m surprised how many Lynn people have eaten at your restaurant in Winthrop,” City Council President Timothy Phelan told Rossetti as he toured the Sutton Street building Monday with Councilor at large Gordon “Buzzy” Barton.Torretta said D’Amici’s will rely on short-term parking on Sutton and other streets to allow bakery customers to park and run into the bakery for food. Rossetti called the parking lot entrance change “essential” to providing his future diners with parking feet away from Rossetti’s front door.”Rossetti’s will offer the residents of Lynn and the North Shore quality dining, and will help fortify downtown Lynn as a destination,” Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said Monday.Rossetti credited Joseph and Sarah Torretta with overseeing the initial renovation work required to convert the former car dealership and window shade and screen building into a restaurant complex.Torretta said the building needed extensive utility upgrades and weatherization.”The first time we came in, there was water everywhere,” he said.