Owners close Red Rock Bistro, plan summer opening of new restaurant

SWAMPSCOTT – Red Rock Bistro, a landmark Swampscott eatery for 15 years, is no more.The business partners who bought the oceanfront restaurant seven months ago closed it on Sunday, but plan to open an entirely new restaurant with a new look in mid-summer.Red Rock Bistro had been owned and operated until last year by its founder, the late Paul Peterseil. It is now owned by Robert Hoffman, Wellington Augusto and Martin Bloom. Bloom is founder of – and Hoffman a partner in – the Vinny Testa?s restaurant chain. Augusto is owner of Newburyport restaurant Mission Oak Grill.Bloom on Monday said as renovation of the old Red Rock Bistro begins, plans for the new restaurant are not yet fully decided.?We closed yesterday and we hope to have a grand re-opening by July 4th,” Bloom said. “We?re renovating the first floor into a brand new space, and we?re going to open a roof-deck.?It will look completely different from what it does now,” he added, noting that Red Rock Bistro?s layout was “too chopped up and (the floor layout) didn?t flow. The new space will be quite a bit more expansive.”Bloom said he and his business partners have not yet settled on a name for the new restaurant, and said the menu is likewise still a work in progress.?It?s going to be a brand new concept, but we?re still figuring out that will be,” he said, adding however, “We will be adding an oyster bar and the menu will be more seafood-oriented; it will be American cuisine.”