SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Local News

November 2, 2009

Flynnies flees the avenue, replaced by tavern

MARBLEHEAD — Flynnies on the Avenue is now Ataraxis Tavern, thanks to an unusual arrangement that sends the liquor license to new owner Dean Santamaria-Capetanelis.

After more than a decade at both the Atlantic Avenue restaurant (in the upper downtown) and, until recently, Flynnies on the Beach, owner Jeff Flynn is retiring from the business — or so he hopes.

"Over the past two years," he told the selectmen on Wednesday, "(wife) Pam and I have been mulling over selling the place. The kids have grown up. It's time to move on and let someone else have fun."

The business may have become less fun when Flynn lost the lucrative concession at Devereux Beach in 2006 to Louise and Paul Petersiel of Swampscott, who opened Lime Rickey's. Meanwhile, making the sale to Santamaria-Capetanelis has required some financial dexterity.

Flynn is loaning Santamaria-Capetanelis the money to buy the business, including the liquor license. This eliminates any bank from the picture and avoids a situation — such as has occurred in the past — where the license can become entrapped in a bankruptcy proceeding, depriving the town of its use.

Instead, the license is pledged to Flynn. "When the loan is paid off," Santamaria-Capetanelis said, "he will release the pledge."

"If you don't (pay off the loan)?" Selectman Judy Jacobi asked.

"I would be back in the restaurant business," Flynn said.

Selectman Harry Christensen said he wouldn't agree to the transfer of the license except for this arrangement. As it was, the board voted 5-0 to allow the transfer.

Also appearing before the board was Santamaria-Capetanelis' new chef, Paul Riccardi.

"I've been in the restaurant business for 20 years," he said. Changes to the structure, he added, would be limited to "painting and cleaning."

Finally, Chairwoman Jackie Belf-Becker told Flynn, "Thank you for all the years you have been in business."

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News

North Shore News Updates on Twitter
Stories Shared on Facebook
AP Video
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff Raw Video: Cop Shoots Man Eating Another's Face Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108 Raw Video: Earthquake Shakes Evacuees in Italy Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Comments Tracker