The legacy of the Winepress will live on in its latest incarnation.
By: Melinda Sherwood
The Winepress may be gone, but its legacy lives on in its latest incarnation.
Wine the fifth food group in Italy will be the centerpiece of EnoTerra, the new eatery Princeton-area restaurateurs Carlo and Raoul Momo plan to open at the former Winepress site on Route 27.
The Momos, owners of Mediterra, Teresa Caffe and Witherspoon Bread Company in Princeton, announced the theme of the new restaurant at a launch party Thursday.
EnoTerra comes from "enoteca," an Italian word meaning "the place where wine is kept," said Bob Prewitt of Hopewell’s Dana Communications, the ad and marketing agency hired to lead the Momos’ recent rebranding campaign, which included changing their name from T2 Ventures to Terra Momo.
The new restaurant will serve Italian cuisine, but the emphasis will be on wine wine tasting, hundreds of wines from around the world, and many, many wines by the glass.
The Momos bought the Winepress in 2000 and closed its doors in 2002 to prepare for renovations, which are being handled by Bogdanow Partners Architects of New York City. They plan to restore the building’s original 19th-century features in the bar area, and renovate for a more modern look in the restaurant area.
The new restaurant will be about 7,000 square feet in total, roughly 1,800 square feet more than the current building, said Mr. Momo.
While the fare is Italian, "The menu will change weekly based on what’s available, or what’s fresh," said Mr. Momo.
Terra Momo has long supported small, family-run farms, many in New Jersey, and hopes to get more local farms and businesses involved.
"Hopefully more restaurants like this will crop up that will encourage farmers to produce more stuff, so that we can take the European model and have not just two or three artisanal cheeses from New Jersey, but a dozen," he said.