New business brings glow of health to Amenia

AMENIA — Monte’s Local Kitchen and Tap Room is about to celebrate its one-year anniversary. That celebration will take place this December along with the news that its sister store, Monte’s Health Nut Hut, is now up and running.

“We’re part of the Monte’s family,” said partner John Lomitola, who with his wife, Phyllis, and other family members own the Monte’s restaurant and health food store. “My wife’s maiden name is Monte, so her brother and sisters are all in this. It’s a family affair.”

Monte’s began in Brooklyn in 1906 with a restaurant on Carroll Street. It’s still there, but no longer in the family. Then, in the 1950s, the family opened the hotel restaurant Gurney’s Inn in Montauk. That they sold two years ago.

“After selling it we looked around and thought, what are we going to do now?” said Lomitola. “We are a tight family and needed something that glued us together. My sister-in-law Ann Marie Pallan has a home in Millbrook, and had been frequenting the little cafe on the corner for years — The Cozy Corner. One day she drove up and it was closed. One thing led to another and we bought the building.”

Lomitola said the new Monte’s building in Amenia is almost identical to the old Monte’s building in Brooklyn.

“It could be its twin,” he said. “Both were built around 1890, so the style is very similar with the six windows in front, the storefront and the apartment upstairs … We needed the glue to keep us together and this really fit the bill. It’s a cute little building on the corner in Amenia.”

Lomitola said Amenia is reminiscent of Montauk in many ways.

“When we started there it was a small, undiscovered but cute place and people would come but there was not much really going on. It was small and quiet,” he said. “Only in the last five years did it become ballistic in Montauk.”

As far as the Monte’s move to Amenia, Lomitola said it’s been divine.

“It’s going great. We love it,” he said. “It’s a discovery almost every day. People in this town really seem to enjoy it and have accepted us. We’re in it for the long haul, we wouldn’t have spent the money here to renovate and make this a worthwhile project without believing in this town.”

The family had considered Millerton as a locale as well, but Lomitola said Amenia just worked out all the way around.

“The timing wasn’t right [for Millerton],” he said. “Sometimes it has be right to move, and now we’re very happy with our choices.”

Those choices extend to the way in which the Health Nut Hut will be run. It’s a full-service health food store with fresh local produce, cheese and meats, dairy products and juices (including fresh wheat grass juice shots), fresh sandwiches and homemade baked goods. There are also vitamins, supplements and other health food and personal care products.

“People always say it’s so expensive to live like that,” said Lomitola. “My answer is if you think it’s expensive to stay healthy wait until you get sick. You can spend now or later. I think it’s a good investment to try new things for the body and to see if they resonate.”

The focus at Monte’s Health Nut Hut is on locally-produced products, whether that’s produce or granola, body lotion or tea, jams or marinara sauce. The goal, according to its mission statement, is to nourish the body with pure, organic products; to nourish the mind through the sharing of knowledge; to nourish the spirit by providing a calm, happy and hopeful environment both inside and outside of the store’s four walls.

Monte’s Health Nut Hut is open Wednesdays through Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s located at 51 Mechanic St., Amenia; its phone number is 845-789-1475. Monte’s Health Nut Hut can be reached by email at monteshealthnuthut@gmail.com or followed on Facebook at www.facebook.com/monteshealthnuthut.