Neighborhood aims to keep lid on late-night music

Franco Graceffa chats with patrons Jason Shilinsky and Alison Mason; he's hoping to gain a permit to bring live music back to his North End restaurant. (Justine Hunt/Globe Staff)

Franco Graceffa wants his patrons to feel as though they have stepped out of Boston and into Sicily when they dine at Dolce Vita, his restaurant in the North End.

So for years, Graceffa, accordionist and singer Antonio Navarro, and others have filled the restaurant with live entertainment in the form of traditional Italian and Italian-American tunes.

But Dolce Vita does not have a live entertainment license, and after a neighbor complained last summer about the noise, the city ordered Graceffa to cease and desist.

Graceffa was left with two options: apply for an entertainment license or permanently end live performances at his restaurant. Determined to bring the music back, he is pursuing the former.

"I've been doing this for 20 years. It's part of the Italian tradition," said Graceffa, who is from the Sicilian town of Aragona. "I bring the feeling of Italy into the restaurant."

Struggling to compete in a neighborhood with nearly 100 restaurants and to capitalize on the post-Big Dig accessibility of the North End, restaurant owners have been increasingly seeking the blessing of the neighborhood association to extend their hours, expand their restaurants, or add live entertainment.

But the North End Waterfront Residents Association, while conceding that some change is inevitable, even beneficial, would like to slow the metamorphosis of the neighborhood from a restaurant district into a late-night drinking and entertainment destination.

According to David Kubiak, chairman of the group's zoning, licensing, and construction committee, the unofficial policy is to oppose live entertainment licenses, which means proprietors risk losing the good will of the neighborhood should they move forward despite the opposition.

"There is a general consensus that the neighborhood does not want the North End to become an entertainment district or to become a destination for late-night bars and drinking. There is an agreement that this is not appropriate or needed here," said Victor Brogna, association president.

Graceffa has twice presented his case to the group, hoping to gain neighborhood support before reapplying for a zoning variance needed for an entertainment license.

His first application was denied. Because there is still tension between Graceffa and his neighbors, he is waiting to resubmit his application.

Paul Bruno, who runs Ida's Restaurant and has lived his entire life in the building next to Dolce Vita, does not want to see live music reintroduced there.

Before the city intervened, Bruno said, the music was "extremely loud" disturbing his family, including his 87-year-old mother, and on some nights would continue until as late as midnight.

"There has to be a fine line between we, the people who live there, and the people who have businesses and do not live in the neighborhood."

Graceffa is not the only restaurateur to find himself at odds with North Enders.

Fiore Colella, the owner of Ristorante Fiore and Cantina Italiana, which has had a live entertainment license for several years, is seeking a seven-day license for piano and accordion music.

The hearing before the city's Zoning Board of Appeal will be held June 10. The association is scheduled to vote on Fiore's application June 12.

Colella declined to comment and was unable to attend the association's zoning committee meeting on May 27. His attorney, William G. Ferullo, spoke on his behalf.

Colella would like to complement the dining experience with music and "to have a warm and inviting space where you can go in to the lounge, listen to some music, and have a drink," Ferullo said.

Ferullo also pointed out the rising cost of food, imported goods, fuel, and staffing needed to run a restaurant of Fiore's size.

"A restaurant can't change its prices every day like the gas stations," Ferullo said. "And Fiore is feeling the pinch of how expensive it is to operate."

So rather than raising menu prices, Colella is seeking to add entertainment to increase business and draw more people, he said.

Speaking against the application, North End resident Brian Wolahan described how he cannot sit in his living room on a warm night because of the "deafening noise" that comes from Fiore's roof deck.

He is concerned about the added din of live entertainment.

"To be asked to sacrifice more from the neighborhood? When does it stop?" Wolahan asked. "People who live here have made a lot of concessions."

Anne M. Pistorio, also a resident, echoed Wolahan. "The North End is first and foremost a neighborhood," she said. "We are entitled to peace and quiet. I think it's time that the restaurant owners respect that."

Still, some see room for live music in the North End.

Brogna, speaking on a personal note, said he's in favor of modest entertainment, particularly that which helps preserve the Italian flavor of the neighborhood - the dapper accordionist Navarro, for example, who has been a local fixture for at least 35 years - or for those restaurant owners who were born and raised in the North End.

"These people have proven themselves as good neighbors and responsible citizens," he said.

Frank DePasquale, a restaurateur and president of the North End Chamber of Commerce, and Boston City Councilor Salvatore LaMattina, whose district includes the North End, agreed with Brogna.

LaMattina does not want to see Hanover Street become an extension of Faneuil Hall with its raucous live entertainment. "It is still a residential neighborhood," he said. "If music is heard out on the street, it is disturbing neighbors."

But some music might be appropriate, he added, such as piano or accordion playing or nonamplified singing.

Aaron Michlewitz, president of the North End Waterfront Neighborhood Council, believes it is possible to consider entertainment licenses on a case-by-case basis, though he advocates for a restriction on the hours music can be played.

"The position of the restaurants is very understandable. They are trying to attract as many customers as they can," Michlewitz said. "But there has to be a balance between commercial interests and residential interests."

There is a fear, though, among some waterfront residents' association members that by supporting just one restaurant's application, more owners will follow suit.

There are currently five live entertainment licenses in the North End. Four were granted before 2000. Patricia Malone, director of Consumer Affairs and Licensing for Boston, also granted an entertainment license about two months ago to Strega Ristorante for a cappella music one night a week .

"Strega came before NEWRA roughly two years ago, before live entertainment became the hot-button issue it is now," Brogna said.

There was heated discussion and some opposition, but enough members supported the application. He noted, though, that had Strega come before the assocation more recently, most members would likely have opposed it.

Within the last two years, the owner of Goody Glover's Irish Pub & Bistro, Dan McMyler, and the owner of Boston Common Coffee Company, Tony Massari - two relatively recent additions to the neighborhood - have also come before the association. Both faced dogged opposition, and both chose not to pursue the licenses.

Remaining neighborhood-friendly has worked to McMyler's benefit - he is seeking permission from the city to expand his patio and has the group's full support.

Massari, whose coffee shop closes at 9 p.m., wanted acoustic guitar music one to two evenings a week. Despite the roughly 800 signatures he gathered in support of his application, he, too, could appreciate the residents' position.

"Entertainment is not going to make or break my business. It's a nice addition, but it probably isn't going to make me more money," Massari said.

"It's more important to maintain neighborhood good will."