Carpaccio restaurant opens in Springfield’s South End

Date: 7/23/2014

SPRINGFIELD – After what owner Lisa MacKechnie called a “long, hard, challenging process,” her new restaurant Carpaccio is finally open.

MacKechnie had to overcome tornado damage and a wall collapse due to a drunk driver crashing into her building at 912 Main St., located in the city’s South End neighborhood.

Mayor Domenic Sarno joined MacKechnie, her family and staff as well as other elected and civic officials at a ribbon cutting on July 22.

A resident of Feeding Hills, MacKechnie told Reminder Publications the South End and the city needs more restaurants based on research she completed.

While this is her first restaurant, MacKechnie has extensive experience in the restaurant and hospitality industries having worked in positions ranging from wait staff and bartending to management and accounting. 

In the location of a former bakery, MacKechnie and her staff have created a dining area with an open kitchen format. There are even seats at the counter facing the kitchen. The restaurant seats 60 people in its dining area and a lounge with the capacity for another 30 people.

More seats will be available when a patio opens.

The menu features Italian cuisine that MacKechnie explained “merges the old with the new … old recipes with new Mediterranean flavors.” The menu includes a wide range of appetizers and salads to pasta dishes. Freshly made deli sandwiches and grinders with an Italian twist as well as pasta dishes are also featured.

She is also incorporating supporting local businesses at the restaurants and noted they are buying items from Milano’s, Zonin’s, La Fiorentina, as well as local suppliers such as Williams Distributing Company and Berkshire Beer.

“I want to aid in bringing back the local economy,” MacKechnie explained.

She is also planning to use as much local produce as possible to implement a “farm to table” format for her eatery.

MacKechnie’s new business employs a staff between 25 and 30 positions, she added.

It is open during the summer Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until midnight. For the summer, the restaurant opens at 3 p.m. on Sundays.