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Date: 2/15/2021
EAST LONGMEADOW – Owner/chef George Akkouris of the Redstone Restaurant Group ventured into a second restaurant, the Redstone Pasta Company on 642 North Main St. –the former location of Pasquales.
The Redstone Pasta Company will have a variety of hand-made pasta shapes from scratch, five to six entrees that are gluten-free, 12-15 specialty wood fired pizzas and a state-of-the-art draught system for wine and beer.
Akkouris told Reminder Publishing he wanted to pay homage to locally sourced spirits – liquor, wine, beer, and more – and food.
“I’ve been looking to venture into a new restaurant for the last seven years, but none of them really fit the bill that I was looking for and that property did with traffic count, a full basement and the size of it,” Akkouris said. “That property was closest to fitting the bill with all the requirements I had and why we chose that location.”
Because it’s such a big place, he was looking to hire 50 employees and was set to open the restaurant in March of 2020. Unfortunately, when COVID-19 hit, Akkouris made the decision to hold off the opening, but said it’s costing him dearly.
“In these times, it’s very stressful because you really don’t know what’s going on. We completely renovated the basement and have wood fire copper ovens from Maine Wood Heat,” Akkouris said. “Our business model wouldn’t allow us to be operating the restaurant at 50 percent. The numbers wouldn’t work. Our operating costs for the restaurant would be astronomical if we had to include food storage and payroll. We would have to pay more gas and more electricity.”
Right now, Akkouris said they are averaging $6,000 to $7,000 a month in carry over cost. He’s hoping the vaccine production rate will increase so they can come back to some kind of normalcy. “Business isn’t great for anybody, and if it is it’s a rarity,” Akkouris admitted. “I am faithful that I’ve made it this far, but it’s a very scary time. I’ve been doing this long enough for 16 years coming in June and I’ve never really experienced anything like this in my life.”
Based in Greater Hartford, CT and Springfield region, the Redstone Restaurant Group includes Akkouris's family Golden Irene's Restaurant in East Windsor, CT, his mobile wood-fired oven and catering company Redstone on Wheels and the Redstone Pasta Company.
Akkouris was born in Hartford, CT and grew up in Suffield working at Golden Irene's Restaurant cooking, serving tables and washing dishes. He had plans on becoming a doctor and worked at Hartford Hospital as a patient care assistant and physician assistant administrator along with doing pharmaceutical research. Akkouris graduated from Central Connecticut State University with a four-year degree in Molecular-Cell Physiology. He got accepted to medical school, but decided not to attend because his parents got sick. His mother was diagnosed with sarcoidosis and his father suffered a heart attack. Due to their health issues, they were unable to run Golden Irene’s and planned on shutting it down. Akkouris told his parents to let him take over the restaurant and he would get it going for a year.
“I was young and naive at the time thinking I could take over,”Akkouris said. “I started out as the manager then after the first year it got a little better, but it still wasn’t right. By the second year, I was finding my stride. That was the time where I decided that I was doing something I really didn’t think I enjoyed, but I really did – and that’s when I bought Golden Irene’s.”
He went on to say, “It’s funny how in my younger life my parents told me not to go into the restaurant business because it’s a hard life. When I did, I really enjoyed it. In the beginning, I used a lot of my scientific background. I worked 80 hours a week and came home every day to spend another two or three hours reading and learning my craft. Even today I always find myself doing research on something, learning something new and trying to understand principles more so than recipes.”
Akkouris expressed how much he loves what he does. Even though he had no intention of owning a pizza place, Akkouris said he can’t see himself doing anything else. Akkouris said that what a lot of people don’t understand when it comes to business owners, is there is a risk, and “the risk is real.” He noted business owners risk everything to pursue their dreams, and it can be stressful – especially if they have a family to provide for.
Akkouris shared that he is hoping that if Gov. Charlie Baker increases occupancy they’ll be ready to begin opening, but Akkouris is waiting on the numbers to be feasible business-wise to open up. With that said, Akkouris said he is open to the idea of opening Redstone Pasta Company as a closed kitchen. Akkouris has been speaking with the health department to see what those options can be, and feels he can design the menu to make it travel well. He stated “there’s nothing in the area that’s quite like it” and thinks that people will enjoy the restaurant.
“Every time I walk in the restaurant, my vision is there. The vision I came up with so long ago is right in front of me,” Akkouris concluded. “It’s a shame that we haven’t be able to open yet. I know I’m looking forward to it and I know my staff is looking forward to it as well. We’re looking to get a patio license because we want to build a patio. We feel if we have a 50-person patio, we will definitely open this spring 100 percent if the town grants that for us.”