Mayor makes his second South End visit in two days

More than a year after its launch in the space formerly occupied by Rocca, Cinquecento Roman trattoria at 500 Harrison Avenue had a formal celebration of its success when Mayor Martin J. Walsh came for a ribbon-cutting at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, April 9. About 75 people, including State Representative Aaron Michlewitz, Washington Gateway Main Street Executive Director Jennifer Effron, South End resident and Boston Main Streets Director Steve Gilman, Office of Business Development Deputy Director Rafael Carbonell, and Department of Neighborhood Development Director Sheila Dillon attended the outdoor event, which was followed by a reception inside the restaurant. The Cinquecento ceremony was the second South End public appearance for Mayor Walsh in less than 24 hours, coming on the heels of his meeting with the South End Forum on Tuesday night, April 8. Cinquecento General Manager Brian Howard described Mayor Walsh as "very magnanimous, very energetic, very thoughtful. It seems like he is really thinking about small businesses."

The restaurant recently received a total of $15,500 in city grant money to update the storefront and install bold, new lettering above the entrance. Washington Gateway Main Street (WGMS) Executive Director Jennifer Effron commented, "It was a great project that really helped the space come into its own from its former owner. We worked with the City and with Jeff Gates from the Aquitaine Group on the ReStore signage and facade improvement program for Cinquecento. We were so excited to have Mayor Walsh come out for the ribbon cutting. They did a fantastic job on Cinquecento and it has fast become a neighborhood favorite and a destination dining spot in the City. Jeff Gates is an asset to the community and has always been very supportive of WGMS's initiatives, so it felt good to help them out where we could."

Cinquecento owner Jeff Gates, a partner in the Aquitaine Group, said Mayor Walsh "had a lot of questions for me. He asked what I thought of the Nite Owl service and whether my staff uses it. They do. He asked my thoughts about later drinking hours in certain parts of the city." Gates recognizes that late closings would not be well-received in heavily residential areas like the South End, but might work in the Waterfront area and Lansdowne Street. "Isn't it great that we are talking about it, though? Behind great change there is great conversation," Gates said with enthusiasm.