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Restaurant In Hartford’s South End Closes Before Foreclosure Sale

By Kenneth R. Gosselin

July 12, 2012

Cuban restaurant Azucar, a fixture on Franklin Avenue in Hartford’s South End, has closed and the property is scheduled to be sold in a foreclosure auction Saturday.

Salvatore and Hilda Pirrotta, of Glastonbury, operated the restaurant, according to state business records, but patrons and past news reports have identified the co-owner as Iris Pirrotta. Salvatore Pirrotta is the president of the real estate holding company, Realty Holdings Corvo LLC, which owns the property at 492-494 Franklin Ave., according to property records.

The Pirrottas did not return a call to their home Wednesday and the restaurant property was dark on two visits Wednesday and Thursday. Their attorney, Ronald Chorches of Wethersfield, declined comment today.

According to court records, Community Realty Investors Inc. filed foreclosure papers in February, 2011 and a judgment of foreclosure by sale was handed down in June, 2011. The sale was delayed once.

In 2005, former Courant Food Editor Linda Guica wrote about the Pirrottas and how they were making the transition from an Italian restaurant to one with a Cuban-inspired menu:

For those who want a more varied taste of Cuban cuisine, Franklin Avenue is home to Azucar restaurant, owned by Iris Pirrotta, who was born in Cuba, and her husband, Sal, a Sicilian-born chef. The restaurant, previously named Corvo and known almost 20 years for its primarily Italian menu, changed its name last year to reflect the growing Cuban offerings on its menu.

The restaurant had seen its share of tough times through the years, however.

In 1997, The Courant reported:

The struggling Corvo Restaurant on Franklin Avenue got a boost Friday by tapping into a $6 million loan pool that had been tied up for three years.

Owner Salvatore Pirrotta received a $375,000 loan. He said it will help him restructure his mortgage and stay in Hartford for the long haul.

“Without the loan, we’d be struggling,” Pirrotta said. “Now I can die of old age and not a heart attack.”