17 February, 2011
At the end of next week, there will be one less place to eat in downtown Hopkinton. Denise Griben, owner of Ciao Time Restaurant and Catering, will be closing the restaurant portion of her business on Friday, February 25th.
Griben first opened at the 28 Main Street location in 2007, filling the space vacated by Café Italiano. In addition to wholesome, home cooked meals ready to go, Griben also served lunch and dinner during the week and had more recently added a Sunday brunch.
Business always slows down over the summer months, but this year it didn’t come back.
“I noticed in the fall that we just weren’t hitting the numbers like we used to,” said Griben.
The Christmas season was also slow and with all the recent snow, residents are staying home.
And it is in those homes that Griben hopes to continue cooking. She plans to work as a personal chef, helping families prepare family meals.
“Nice, fresh, wholesome meals, whatever your family wants, I can make,” said Griben. “Just to take some of the burden off the person in charge of the food.”
She also plans to continue her catering business, renting space in kitchens in town that are approved by the Board of Health.
Her customers are sad to see her go and are also sad to see another vacancy in downtown Hopkinton.
Local business owner, Joe Palmquist of Action Copy, was a neighbor and a frequent Ciao Time customer.
“It’s too bad that after three years, she can’t stay longer,” said Palmquist. “It’s just not long enough to have a business.”
Griben will be having a sale to sell off all of her equipment on the weekend of February 25th and encourages anyone who needs restaurant equipment to stop by. In closing, she also made a plea to Hopkinton residents to frequent the downtown area.
“I just hope that the people of Hopkinton will come to the downtown and see what we have here,” said Griben. “We need you down here. All of the other shops need you.”
