Owners of several Princeton restaurants have big plans for Kingston eatery, including a new name.
By: Melinda Sherwood
Serving up everything from Mediterranean and Italian cuisine to fresh-baked bread, restaurateurs Carlo and Raoul Momo of T2 Ventures have been a staple ingredient of the Princeton dining scene for over a decade.
Now, the founders and owners of Mediterra, Teresa Caffe and Witherspoon Bread Company in Princeton, and Novo Terra and Teresa Ristorante in New Brunswick, plan to deliver their unique taste in cuisine to Kingston.
The brothers will unveil the concept for their new restaurant, to be located at the former Winepress on Route 27, and announce the company’s new brand name at a formal launch event slated for 4 p.m., March 11 at the New Jersey Restaurant Association in Trenton.
T2 Ventures is now known as TerraMomo, a name cooked up by Dana Communications of Hopewell to reflect the company’s down-to-earth philosophy and commitment to using organic products from small farms, according to spokeswoman Terri McIntire.
"They celebrate earth, food, wine and life that’s really their tag line," said Ms. McIntire. "That’s what makes them different as an independently run company versus a chain. They really focus in on locally grown produce, but the whole sustainable business practice is huge with them. That speaks a great deal to the integrity of the cuisine and its freshness even their olive oil comes from small farms."
TerraMomo has long supported small family-run farms, many in New Jersey, including Simply Grazin’ Organic Farm and Spring Hill Farm, both in Hopewell Township; ARC Greenhouses in Shiloh; Griggstown Quail Farm in Franklin; and Farmersville Cheeses in Oldwick. The Momos also have their own organic garden in Princeton and serve wines produced at small vineyards around the world.
"Buying local is very important to us, as is dealing with supplier partners who share the same commitment to sustainable business practices and organic products," said Raoul Momo.
The Momos opened their first restaurant, a pizzeria called Teresa’s, in New Brunswick in 1982, and expanded into Princeton in 1991 with Teresa’s Café, recently renamed Teresa Caffe. Mediterra followed in 1996, Witherspoon Bread Company in 1998, and Novo Terra in 2000.
The Momos bought the Winepress in July 2000 when then-owner George Guadagno retired to Florida, and they closed the doors in June 2002 to begin plans for the renovation.
The Momos also own the former Union Line Hotel in Kingston, which they bought in 2001, and have very preliminary plans to convert that into a restaurant as well.
TerraMomo expects to submit an application to the South Brunswick Planning Board in the next few weeks for historic renovation of the Winepress, which is being handled by Bogdanow Partners Architects of New York City, a designer of over 60 well-known restaurants, hotels and retail facilities.
Details on the renovation project, along with the name and theme of the new restaurant, will be released at the March 11 launch event. Also at the event, TerraMomo will announce an annual scholarship for $1,500 to be awarded to an agricultural student at Rutgers’ Cook College Raoul Momo’s alma mater.
The new restaurant is going to be a wonderful addition to the area, said Ms. McIntire. "The menu and the concept is really going to appeal to people and be something to look forward to," she said.