Fredericton’s 11th Mile Reopens In New Downtown Location
FREDERICTON – Restaurant and cocktail bar 11th Mile has reopened at its new location at 79 York St. It was previously located on a building on Regent St. that’s scheduled for demolition.
Jennie Wilson, who owns the restaurant with her husband, chef Pete Tompkins, said the relocation went smoothly with the help of their previous landlord, the general contractor and the interior designer.
“[The move] went exactly as planned, which is surprising for a construction project,” said Wilson. “You know there’s always fears when working in an old building in Fredericton that you’re going to run into something. But this building has been brought solidly up to code.”
The restaurant opened in 2017 and originally served just dinner, but at the new location, 11th Mile is also serving lunch.
Its bar area is smaller now, so there’s more room for table seating, Wilson said. It can accommodate 40 people. The design is lighter and brighter, too.
“It feels more like a restaurant and less like a bar, which I think is what people notice when they came in,” she said.
Wilson said their loyal customers have come out to support them during since they reopened last week, while new customers stopped by because they’re curious what the historic building looks like inside.
“The location is just more visible on York St., so there’s a lot of people coming in because it’s the Mazzuca building and they want to see what we’ve done with the place. And some of them just weren’t aware. They’re just hearing about us now. So we’re off to an excellent start,” Wilson said.
It’s called the Mazzuca building because it was home to Mazzuca’s variety store for more than 80 years. The old-fashioned store opened in the 1920s and was owned by the Mazzuca family until it closed in 2007.
Now that 11th Mile has moved in, Wilson and Tompkins want to honour that history with a print out from 192os.
“Just to give a little bit of respect to so many Frederictonians who have happy memories and funny stories of Mazzuca,” Wilson said.
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