“I think we’re both dedicated to our craft,” Rodriguez says. “I’m dedicated to making the best food possible, whether I’m flipping burgers at McDonald’s or here. Vic wakes up and works as an accountant all day, then comes here and rushes into the kitchen. And Wendy is up at dawn doing things on the business side of the restaurant, and then she works in the restaurant all night. We all work very hard and get along very well. We don’t stop. Even on days off when we think we won’t talk to each other, we talk for hours to make sure everything is okay.
On a recent Saturday night, Izzy’s Steakhouse & Seafood at The Inn at Sugar Hill was quite packed despite the cold January and during a COVID outbreak, a good sign people are reacting to what’s happening at their favorite Mays Landing historic institution. .
“Come hang out for whatever reason,” Rodriguez says. “Whether you’re staying overnight, coming in for dinner, sitting at the bar for a drink, or just stopping in for a coffee and creme brulee, we make you feel right at home. Come with friends, leave with family.
New owner, big changes
Most people associate The Inn at Sugar Hill with Larry & Tina Boylan, who opened The Inn at Sugar Hill in the late 1980s and owned it for 32 years before selling it in June 2019 to Yogi Kumar, who only operated it for about a year before closing for COVID and decision to sell.
Wendy Fabietti arrived, whose initial offer in September 2020 was not enough to secure the purchase. However, after the financing failed with the highest bidder, Fabietti was back in the picture and renegotiated the deal in February before closing in June.
“I wanted to find something that had a liquor license and something that I could afford,” says Fabietti. “I couldn’t spend a million dollars on a property. I needed something that was within our price range and that I could put my heart into. And it was perfect.
Fabietti has big plans for The Inn at Sugar Hill. In addition to reopening the six beautifully appointed guest rooms and Izzy’s River Landing, which opened last summer and will reopen as soon as the weather permits, Fabietti has already had the main building re-roofed, completely renovated the one of the dining rooms and plans to gradually approach the whole property bit by bit.
“We didn’t do as much as we would have liked, but that’s only because you can’t do so much at the same time”, explains Wendy Fabietti. “We were able to renovate one of the three dining rooms, the Cardinal room, which has two fireplaces, and the result is truly magnificent. We see that people will be patient and understand that we are on the right track here to keep the living history while making it a business that will do well today. The locals are here all the time, and we are truly blessed. There’s no other way to put it.”
Rodriguez says Fabietti is modest about what was done at the inn.
“The Cardinal room has been demolished right down to the uprights, and everything is new, from the walls to the wallpaper, from the tables to the sheets. We traveled all the way to Pennsylvania in the mountains to see chandeliers to put in this room. She really put everything in this room. When we took this place there were rooms with 4 foot holes in the asbestos walls in the basement. It’s gone from absolute worst to worst to best possible at this point.
Get the latest local entertainment news delivered to your inbox every week!
