Sarcoa looks to radically alter Hamiltons Waterfront. \u00a0Lets hope this is the first of many projects we need to enhance our beautiful city.
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\nCo-owners Sam Destro and Marco Faiazza believe the 550-seat venue will offer a sophisticated and lively yet intimate, atmosphere.
\nSarcoa boasts a 350-seat patio, two stages and bars (one indoor, one out), five private cabanas with gas fireplaces, and a view of Hamilton’s harbour.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s nothing else this elegant here,\u201d Destro said. \u201cWe wanted to make people think twice about going away from Hamilton.\u201d
\nIn the short-term, the venue will offer live music every weekend, starting with a performance by Sharon Musgrave this Friday.
\nIn the longer-term, the space \u2014 a partial renovation to the former Discovery Centre building \u2014 will provide opportunities for conferences, weddings or film festival screenings in the neighbouring auditorium.
\nFor the owners, it\u2019s the first of two planned venues within the same building. They intend the smaller of the two, Pier, to be used exclusively for private bookings and events. It will open in October.
\nSarcoa has already been booked for a number of events heading into the fall, Destro said.
\nThe co-owners have leveraged their existing petroleum and construction businesses to finance the new venture. Although there\u2019s no guarantee it will work out, the partners invested in the property because \u201cwe believe this is a growth area with potential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sarcoa is \u201cnothing but a positive addition,\u201d said Ward 5 councillor Chad Collins, who has served on the Waterfront Trust board. It fits right into the city\u2019s \u201cSetting Sail\u201d master plan for the waterfront, which would include new commercial operations, condo units, hotels and cultural spaces, he said.
\nWerner Plessl, the Waterfront Trust\u2019s executive director, shares the same sentiment. \u201cI think it\u2019s terrific,\u201d he said.
\nPlessl hopes that Sarcoa will demonstrate what can be done on the waterfront so that the area will become a \u201cmulti-use\u201d space.
\nThe main obstacle to further commercial developments, however, is that the Port Authority has a lease on most of the surrounding land. This lease could be held for another three to 13 years, Plessl said.
\nMeanwhile, the Harbour-West trolley tours, outdoor roller-skating rink and William\u2019s Fresh Caf\u00e9 have all been attracting increasing numbers of people, he said. The area has seen \u201c50,000 paying customers a year.\u201d
\nSarcoa\u2019s owners point to other areas of the city to demonstrate Hamilton\u2019s economic gains, like the recently built Staybridge Suites hotel or the expansion of the Hamilton General Hospital.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of wealth in this city,\u201d Destro said. Sarcoa, he expects, will attract \u201caffluent people.\u201d
\nBut city councillors \u201chave to help us,\u201d the co-owner said. \u201cWe have to put pressure on our local councillors to beautify (the area).\u201d<\/p>\n
The new restauranteurs could easily have bought a popular franchise, but decided to go the independent route.
\nThey didn\u2019t want to be trapped by \u201ccorporate edicts,\u201d Destro said of their decision to stay independent. \u201cThere\u2019s too much commercialization and homogenization,\u201d he said.
\nBut, as Marvin Ryder, a professor at the DeGroote School of Business, points out, statistically, franchise operations have a far higher success rate than independents.
\nDestro and Faiazza \u201cdon\u2019t have a recognizable brand name, like the Keg or Milestones,\u201d he said. \u201cWith a name like \u2018Sarcoa,\u2019 they\u2019re going to have to spend some time (branding themselves).\u201d
\n\u201cSarcoa\u201d is a play on the owners\u2019 names: Sam and Marco, Destro said. But on UrbanDictionary.com it\u2019s also defined as \u201cto do what\u2019s unexpected,\u201d said Adam Hall, the restaurant\u2019s general manager, laughing. \u201cWe liked what the name represented.\u201d
\n\u201cToo many restaurants feel the same,\u201d he said. \u201cWe wanted to do something that no one else does.\u201d
\nHall worked out the menu with executive chef Wes Lesco, so that their offerings would be familiar, but \u201cwith a new spin.\u201d
\nNearly all of their items will be made in-house, including the ketchup, mustard and burger buns.
\nThe owners say they\u2019re up to the challenge of building their brand. They have been promoting their restaurant through \u201caggressive\u201d business-to-business marketing; forming partnerships with cruise lines and reaching out to their corporate networks.
\nThey\u2019ve connected with many already: this weekend, they expect to host Mike Weir and folks from the Canadian Open, Destro said. In the fall, 200 conference delegates from Ottawa have already reserved the venue. At the end of the year, Destro and Faiazza would like to host the \u201cbiggest New Year\u2019s Eve event in the city.\u201d And next summer they expect to host attendees from an NBA 3 on 3 tournament, a Tall Ships event and Ribfest.
\n\u201cWith this space, there are so many fun things you can do,\u201d Hall said. Instead of dictating to Hamilton what Sarcoa has to be, he said \u201cwe\u2019ll let the public decide what they want to use it for.\u201d
\n[googleMap name=”57 Discovery Drive Hamilton, ON L8L 8B4 ” description=”57 Discovery Drive Hamilton, ON L8L 8B4 ” width=”400″ height=”400″]57 Discovery Drive Hamilton, ON L8L 8B4 [\/googleMap]
\nRead more here:
\nhttp:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/hamilton\/news\/story\/2012\/07\/24\/hamilton-sarcoa-restaurant.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sarcoa looks to radically alter Hamiltons Waterfront. \u00a0Lets hope this is the first of many projects we need to enhance our beautiful city. Co-owners Sam Destro and Marco Faiazza believe the 550-seat venue will offer a sophisticated and lively yet intimate, atmosphere. Sarcoa boasts a 350-seat patio, two stages and bars (one indoor, one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n