La Piazza Wine Bar & Martini Lounge opens

WARWICK — On Thursday, May 30, Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Mayor Michael Newhard and members of the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce joined co-owners Tony Sylaj and Nick Ahmetaj for the official grand opening of La Piazza Wine Bar & Martini Lounge.

The café is located at 24 Railroad Ave. in the courtyard just below Grappa Ristorante, which is also co-owned by Sylaj and Ahmetaj.

La Piazza Wine Bar & Martini Lounge is designed to be a nightspot where people can enjoy music, wine and tapas in a relaxing atmosphere.

Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers or snacks generally associated with Spanish cuisine.

Selections offered at La Piazza include fried calamari, escargot and teriyaki wings along with shrimp cocktails and blue point oysters.

The idea for a café called, “La Piazza,” occurred to Sylaj while traveling with his wife, Lauren, to visit her family in Sicily.

“The name,” he said, “comes from a place where the people gather after a long day at work. Everybody says, ‘See you at the Piazza.’ It’s the center of the village surrounded with all kind of shops, bars and restaurants. We had a great time while we were there and we went to the Piazza almost every single night.”

After opening Grappa Ristorante five years ago, Sylaj began thinking about what this area needs and thought a wine and martini lounge would be new, different and exciting.

“I have to give a lot of credit to my wife, Lauren, and my partner Nick who supported me. And a special thanks goes to my parents.”

La Piazza Wine Bar & Martini Lounge is open Tuesday through Sunday. Happy hour is Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.

For information call 987-8585.