Old Mill Grocery & Deli has been dark since the end of September. Whether it comes back depends on two things moving together. The owner wants an operator who can run the 107-year-old market all year. The best tools for doing that are outdoor seating and drinks with a meal, and a court ruled those out at the address in February. A zoning fix went to a hearing on October 19. Downtown isn't waiting for the answer: a new bakery opened on Jesup Road, a bagel shop has signed on Main Street, and a juice bar is coming to Post Road East.
Why a profitable market still closed
Romanacci's ran Old Mill for three years. Brothers Graziano and Maurizio Ricci decided not to renew the lease and held a farewell night on September 29. 06880 reported that dozens of friends and customers came for food and drinks, and that the brothers enjoyed their time there, did not lose money, and are now focused on a new restaurant opening in Darien.
The building belongs to the Soundview Empowerment Alliance, a nonprofit. Its co-founder, Ian Warburg, explained the decision to the Westport Journal in September. He said the market "was a profitable operation, not wildly profitable and not sufficient to keep their attention when they have other much more profitable activities to engage in and pursue." He called the exit a business decision rather than a failure, and said the two sides were "parting as friends and under the best of terms."
That explains why the place is closed. A market a short walk from Compo makes its money in summer, and summer alone didn't make enough for an operator with other restaurants to run. Warburg said the same thing in the same interview:
"The viable future is an operator who comes in with a really site-specific plan and concept that's less seasonal in nature, more year-round in offering."
He added that the property's history shows a year-round business can work there, given "the right combination of offerings" and good marketing.
The operators are lined up. The rules come first.
The alliance isn't short of candidates. In mid-September, Warburg told the Westport Journal it was in "active discussions with no fewer than four very capable and experienced groups." He said one of them "wants to start like tomorrow," and that the alliance would weigh every proposal before choosing. By the end of that month, 06880 reported the owners were still talking with possible operators and hoped for "a fairly quick reopening."
The same 06880 item ties the reopening to a zoning vote. The owners were hoping the Planning & Zoning Commission would approve a text amendment allowing outdoor dining and alcohol sales. Those are the year-round pieces Warburg described: a table outside on a mild October afternoon, or a glass of wine with dinner in February, at a property in a residential zone.
Here is how the question got to this point, based on a Town planning staff memo dated September 28:
- In 2024, under an earlier zoning amendment, Text Amendment #843, the Town endorsed a café liquor permit application for Old Mill Grocery & Deli by Romanacci. The state Department of Consumer Protection issued the permit on September 12, 2024.
- Neighbors appealed. On February 18, 2026, a Superior Court decision sustained the appeals. It found the alcohol sales at 222 Hillspoint Road to be "an unlawful expansion of the nonconforming use of the property."
- Because the decision invalidated the amendments that allowed liquor sales in residential zones, the endorsed liquor permit was rescinded.
- The September 28 and October 5 Commission meetings were both cancelled.
- The new proposals went to a public hearing on October 19 instead.
The new approach differs from the one the court rejected. It doesn't rely on a townwide rule for residential zones. According to the Town's October 15 notice, Text Amendment #875 would create a new Food and Beverage Planned Development District. That district would allow grocery stores, delis, retail food establishments, restaurants, cafés and taverns, and would set standards for outdoor eating areas and on-premises alcohol sales at a retail food establishment. Map Amendment #876 would rezone 222 Hillspoint Road from Residence B into that new district. The Town describes a Planned Development District as a zoning district meant for "a coordinated, site-specific development that does not fit neatly within the municipality's conventional zoning districts."
"Site-specific" is the term the Town uses for the district, and it's the term Warburg used for the operator he wants. The building's owner and the zoning proposal are describing the same plan. What the Commission decides about Hillspoint Road affects which of those four groups can make the numbers work. The Town posts meeting materials and decisions on its P&Z pending applications page, and that's the place to watch before a new name goes up on the building.
Meanwhile, the morning stops are moving downtown
While Hillspoint waits, downtown Westport has picked up a new place to stop on the way to work, school drop-off or the train. Other new places are signed and coming.
hi'Amba, 33 Jesup Road. Chef Bill Taibe opened his all-day bakery, café and restaurant on October 14. CT Bites describes it as built around a working bakery, with flavors from the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and Southwest Asia. It opened serving breakfast and lunch:
- Ilse Coffee, plus a few drinks inspired by Middle Eastern traditions
- Jerusalem bagels, pita straight from the oven, man'oushe and glazed pastries, with eggs and shakshuka for a hot breakfast
- Later in the day, larger sandwiches such as swordfish shawarma and lamb kebab, salads, and dips including several kinds of hummus, baba ghanoush and muhammara
- A grab-and-go market downstairs with house-made dips and spreads, prepared foods, breads, pastries and pantry goods
For opening week, the hours were Wednesday through Sunday. Pastries and morning drinks started at 8 a.m., and savory food was served from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Downstairs is counter service. Upstairs is a full-service dining room with beer, wine and spritzes, and Taibe told CT Bites that dinner would start a few weeks after opening. The executive chef is Karen Nicolas, a 2012 Food & Wine Best New Chef. Pastry chef Michael Finehirsh worked at Daniel under François Payard. Patch covered the opening day on October 14.
Taibe described what he's aiming for in terms that apply just as well to the market on Hillspoint. He told CT Bites that hi'Amba is meant to be "the kind of place you want in your neighborhood and can rely on every day," where "you can come in for coffee and something warm from the oven, sit down for a great meal, meet friends upstairs for a bottle of wine, or grab dinner on the way home." That mix of coffee, sit-down meals, wine and takeout dinner is the kind of year-round model Warburg described for the beach, and on Jesup Road Taibe could open with all of it.
Pop-Up Bagels, 178 Main Street. Pop-Up Bagels was founded by Westporter Adam Goldberg. According to the Westport Journal on October 5, it has signed a lease for the former Cold Fusion Gelato space, with an opening projected for early 2027.
Barvida, Post Road East. Barvida serves plant-based smoothies, cold-pressed juices, superfood bowls and toasts. It's moving into a vacant storefront on the block anchored by South Moon Under, and 06880 reported on October 18 that the sign in the window reads "Coming when it's done."
All three are opening in commercial districts, where the questions now hanging over Hillspoint Road don't come up. Downtown, the work is signing a lease and building out a kitchen. At the beach, the question is what kind of business the property is allowed to be.
The next few weeks on the calendar
There's no set date for Old Mill to reopen, and no new operator has been announced. The Commission's action on Amendments #875 and #876 is the next thing to watch, and the operator announcement likely follows it.
Downtown keeps its own schedule in the meantime. The Westport Library's Big Fall Book Sale runs November 6 through 9, according to 06880. The library's book sale page lists vintage vinyl, DVDs and CDs alongside the used books. hi'Amba is on Jesup Road, close by, so it's an easy coffee and pastry stop on a sale morning. For more on how Westport's food map changed earlier this year, see our late-summer roundup of new openings, and our Westport neighborhood page has the bigger picture of town life.
At John Bainton, we follow decisions like the one on Hillspoint Road because a neighborhood landmark becomes part of what nearby homeowners are living next to. If you live near Compo and want to know how your home's value looks this fall, start with an instant home valuation and we'll go through the local details with you.
