DATE: Tuesday, September 16, 1997           TAG: 9709160232

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   62 lines

NEW JEWISH MOTHER TO SET UP SHOP ON PORTSMOUTH WATERFRONT

A new Jewish Mother is coming to the Portsmouth waterfront.

Ted Bonk and John Colaprete, owners of the Virginia Beach Jewish Mother, plan to open another Jewish Mother by mid-November in the old Seaboard Building at the foot of High Street on the edge of the new ferry landing.

The deal, which has been in the making for six months, was put together with the help of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which provided $175,000 to the building owners to remodel the 15,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by The Max and later by the Riverfront Cafe.

PRHA Director Danny Cruce said the authority provided a $90,000 loan at 7 percent for 10 years and an $85,000 grant to the Seaboard Coast Line Associates, including Vince Mastracco and Mark Poutasse.

``They are the same owners who bought the building from the city for $200,000 in 1985,'' Cruce said. ``The total development cost of the building in 1985 was $3.5 million.''

Cruce said the authority believes the city will receive almost $143,000 in annual taxes and license fees. The restaurant is projecting $2 million in gross annual sales.

The five-story building, constructed in 1894, was given to the city by the Seaboard Coast Line in 1958 and used as City Hall until 1980.

``We think it is very important to bring a regional attraction to the High Street Landing to enhance our downtown efforts,'' Cruce said. ``And we think the Jewish Mother will reach out to a mobile clientele from the entire region.''

Because of complaints and police problems with unruly customers at the Riverfront Cafe, the city required the Jewish Mother to sign a lease that would be voided if any ``undesirable'' activities, including noise, emanated from the restaurant.

Elly Schenne, Colaprete's sister who will manage the Portsmouth restaurant, said the neighbors have nothing to worry about. She plans to live in one of the apartments in the building.

``This place is going to have the real Jewish mother,'' she said. ``I'm no kid, and I've been with this business on a personal basis for a long time.''

Schenne has been in the food and restaurant business for 35 years, including a few years working with her brother at Seascape in Sandbridge. She has managed restaurants in Las Vegas, New York and Houston. At one time, she was manager of the commissary at the Kaufman Astoria Studios of New York, a Queens location where movies and commercials are made.

The Portsmouth restaurant will be open from 7 a.m. until 2. a.m., Schenne said, and will feature regular entertainment, including jazz, blues, swing and classical guitar.

``We may adjust the hours when we find out what works there,'' she added.

The restaurant and bar, designed to accommodate 200 people, will be on the river side of the building. The first floor of the space fronting on High Street, including the area used as a bar by The Max, will house a full-service deli and an ice cream bar. The second level fronting on High Street will be used for catering, Schenne said.

One of Schenne's projects will be offering delivery service to people on yachts in the harbor.

``I'm heavily into marketing, and I think there are so many things we can do to expand there,'' Schenne said. ``But our main thing will be good food.'' ILLUSTRATION: File Photo

Seaboard Building...

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