A men’s designer-clothing store and an Italian restaurant have opened on Witherspoon Street in the last month.
By: George Frey
Nick Hilton Studio, a men’s designer-clothing store, and La Mezzaluna, an "authentic Italian" restaurant, have opened on Witherspoon Street in the last month.
The Nick Hilton Studio, located at 221 Witherspoon St., is a natural progression for Nick Hilton, whose family has been in the clothing business in some form or another since the 1880’s.
Today, Mr. Hilton is a widely known clothing stylist with extensive expertise in all aspects of men’s apparel from tailored clothing to sportswear and outerwear. He has most recently released the NH 1888 Collection, which is available in more than 100 stores across the country but in New Jersey, only at the Nick Hilton Studio.
"We’ve brought the line into a new era of clothing," he said.
The line includes trousers, shirts, sport jackets and neckwear.
Mr. Hilton claims there is a "great mystery" surrounding the "de-formalizing" of corporate dress codes.
"There’s a way to be comfortable and elegant at the same time," he said. "The problem is that it’s hard to write a manual for people to dress down."
Mr. Hilton said he hopes his shop can be all things to all people, enabling him to provide everything from "tailored sportswear" to a suit for thousands of dollars if that’s what the customers want.
"If they want something, we’ll get it or we’ll have it made," he said. "This is a whole new formula for the men’s store."
Mr. Hilton said he thinks other men’s stores in Princeton have had the wrong idea about what their customers want.
"Customers don’t want to be overwhelmed with product," he said. "They want someone to dress them comfortably and to make them look good."
The other new business, La Mezzaluna, has been open for about four weeks. Fred Szymborski Jr. runs the restaurant with his wife, Carie, and a partner, Chris Stevens, who is also the executive chef.
Both of the men have worked in Princeton area restaurants, Mr. Stevens most recently as the chef at Les Copains.
We’ve seen how not to do it," he said, speaking of past experiences at other restaurants.
The business at La Mezzaluna in the few short weeks it has been open is something that has surprised the owners. They said they often have to turn away many people on weekend nights because of a full house of reservations, they said.
"I think it’s because we’re one of the only owner-operated restaurants in the area, which is important," Mr. Szymborski said. "We don’t have employees here who run our restaurant. We run it ourselves."
Mr. Stevens and Mr. Szymborski both attributed some of the popularity of the new business to their personal attention to details, and also its affordability.
"We’re not really considered fine dining here because we don’t have tablecloths on the tables," Mr. Szymborski said. "Through that, though, we can add a lot of value to the menu, which other places couldn’t."
La Mezzaluna features many dishes that are cooked at tableside. The food prices range from $5 to $9 for appetizers and from $12 to $25 for entrées.
The two young entrepreneurs said they have worked "nonstop" since around August, when the deal went through for the space at 25 Witherspoon St., which was formerly an Italian restaurant called Nodo. They said they renovated and decorated "every stitch" of the new restaurant themselves.