Grist Mill to Move to Avon, Replacing Carmen Anthony

The Grist Mill will move out of its historical 44 Mill Lane mill and into the space currently occupied by Avon restaurant Carmen Anthony, which is slated to close.

The other four Carmen Anthony restaurants – fishhouses in Woodbury and Wethersfield and steakhouses in Waterbury and New Haven – will remain open, Sharon R. Muthig, chief financial officer of Carmen Anthony Restaurant Group, confirmed on Monday.

"We’re not closing it, we’re selling it," Muthig said of the Avon location.

Carmen Anthony signed an agreement with The Grist Mill owners Anthony and Kristine Giraulo on May 14 to sell the assets, including the furniture and fixtures, she said.

The Grist Mill, located in Farmington's first grist mill built in the 1640s, according to its website, has applied for permission to open a Class III restaurant there, the Avon town planning office confirmed Monday. The public hearing for the application is scheduled for Tuesday night at the 7:30 p.m. Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Avon Town Hall.

"Our intention is to continue to do business in the same manner as the present occupant, as we will be moving our fine dining establishment from its current location over to the new space," The Grist Mill co-owners Anthony and Kristine Giraulo wrote in email to Avon. "It is merely a change from one restaurant to another."

Carmen Anthony's third location opened in Avon in 1999, according to the restaurant group's website.

The Route 44 plaza, which abuts Old Avon Village, has housed many other Class III restaurants there since 1991, including Airstreams, Jetstreams, Publicans and Newport Blue Café, according to town planning staff notes on the history of the storefront. The space is leased from Shops of Applewood, LLC.

The Carmen Anthony Fishouse of Avon site, known for its rooftop outdoor patio that many frequented during the summer months, can accomodate up to 200 people, according to the restaurant group's website.

The Grist Mill looks to have outdoor dining as Carmen Anthony did, but there will not be an outdoor bar, town planning staff said in written comments about the application.

"We are well aware of the restrictions on loud music, bright lights, and after-hours service and can assure you that none of the prior will be an issue.  Our hours of operation coincide with those of the current establishment and there are no intentions of changing that," the Giraulos wrote in their application letter. "

Private parties with live music are occasionally booked at The Grist Mill's Farmington spot upon request, the Giraulos noted, as long as they were "within reason," such as "single artist jazz" or "blues acoustic guitar," as well as solo pianists, violinists and harpists. 

"The music had never raised complaints in the past and we would ask for your consideration to continue to accommodate these requests," the Giraulos wrote.

The Giraulos don't plan on changing the bar, dining room and patio layout.

"These areas will remain unchanged, as we have no intention of changing the structural integrity of the building by any means," the Giraulos said in their application.

The restaurants have not announced when the transition will be made at this time and the sale isn't scheduled to close until May 29, Muthig said.

The public hearing for The Grist Mill's application will be in the Selectmen's Conference Room in Town Hall, Building One.