Business

In One Event: Get a Pro to Take Your Photo, Spruce Up & Get Advice for Your LinkedIn Profile

2 from Darien in Dancing with Stars Fundraiser: Taking Care of Business in Darien

P&Z Savors Shake Shack Proposal, But Board’s Chair Dislikes the Topping

Latest Darien Restaurant Health Inspection Ratings

Taking Care of Business in Darien: News Notes from Around Town

Darien’s Grand List Up 1%, But Assessments on Businesses Down

These are Darien’s 10 Most Expensive Pieces of Real Estate

Chief Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab & Co. to Speak at DCA

Le Boudoir, a Beauty Salon, Opens on Grove Street

Three ‘Poor,’ Eight ‘Fair’ and Five ‘Good’ in Most Recent Darien Restaurant Inspections

OPEN NOW: Darien Diner Is Serving Crowds at Its New Location [UPDATED]

SOON? Darien Diner’s Shiny Retro Digs Look Ready

Stevenson: ‘Final Details’ Stage for Agreement to Expand Natural Gas Service in Darien

Week-long ‘Indoor Sidewalk Sales’ in Darien Start Friday, Jan 29 [Updated]

Health Inspectors Rate Six Restaurants ‘Good’, One ‘Fair’

Events Calendar

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By David Gurliacci | February 15, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | February 15, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | February 14, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | February 10, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | February 8, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | February 8, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | February 7, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | February 6, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | February 5, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | February 4, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | January 30, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | January 29, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | January 29, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | January 28, 2016

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By David Gurliacci | January 28, 2016

Businesses serving Darienites

This “New Year-New Look-New You for LinkedIn!” event on March 22, sponsored by the Darien Chamber of Commerce gives you an all-in-one package to spruce you up, get your picture taken for LinkedIn and get some professional advice about your profile there. It all takes place from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on March 22 at Darien Sport Shop — but register in advance to have your picture taken by a professional photographer. Here’s the announcement on the Darien Chamber of Commerce website:

This is a repeat of last year’s popular DCC event! Get it all at this breakfast networking event–make new contacts, see Chamber friends.

Work has started on converting the former Patriot Bank space at 800 Post Road to house The Bar Method. “We have signed the lease on our unbeatable space,” the business announced recently on Facebook. In another post: “We’ve been searching all over to find the perfect spot for our studio. When we walked into 800 Post Road in Darien, we knew we had found our home. ***

In one Darien Chamber of Commerce event coming up March 22, Darien business people can (1) get advice on improving their LinkedIn profile from LucidPointe experts; (2) get a new headshot to use on LinkedIn, taken by nationally known professional photographer Kristen Jensen; and before that, (3) try on some clothes at Darien Sport Shop for the photo; but not only that, also (4) get hair and makeup touched up by Williams & Co.

Planning & Zoning Commission Chair Susan Cameron doesn’t like the unusual roof line proposed by architects for Shake Shack, the popular high-end, fast-food joint with a new location proposed on the Post Road. Most of the roof starts high near the front of the building and slopes back toward the rear. At a commission meeting earlier this month, Cameron said she doesn’t like the modern look — she’d prefer something that looks more traditional — and pressed Shake Shack designers to reconsider. Cameron even brought to the meeting some images she’d found of Shake Shack restaurants (which the company calls “shacks”) that had more traditional roofs sloping forward to show to the architects. Hers was the most prominent criticism of the proposal at the Feb.

Three Darien restaurants each received “Good” ratings in the most recently released town Health Department inspection reports. For details, see the bottom of this article. How Darien’s restaurants are rated

Restaurants in town are rated under the Darien Health Department’s own Good/Fair/Poor ratings system. Health inspectors also use the state health code regulations to score restaurants, with a perfect score set at 100, and demerits (of 1 to 4 points each) for various code violations. _________

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Here’s what’s new in Darien business from the past week (we may make this a regular feature):

Mark Shakley has joined the Darien office of William Raveis real estate agency. He’s got an interesting background, related on the Raveis blog: “Mark co-founded Newmark Rug Company […] After selling the business to Mohawk Industries, Mark began to purchase and develop homes in Connecticut. […] Shakley Properties then developed two waterfront homes on Five Mile River in Rowayton. The prospective buyers had some reservations about the property location on a main street. “Mark knew they would love the serenity of the river and suggested them to “try it out” and spend a weekend living in the house.

Residential property increased slightly in value but property assessments were down for town businesses in 2015, according to figures in Darien’s Grand List of tax-assessed properties, which rose a total of 1 percent in the year leading up to Oct. 1, 2015. Commercial real estate was assessed at a quarter of 1 percent below the previous year’s value, and personal property — essentially non-real estate business property that can be taxed — fell by 2.4 percent from Oct. 1 2014 to the same date in 2015. Zotos International, a beauty products company with offices at 100 Tokeneke Road, was assessed for personal property taxes in 2015 close to half of what it had been assessed in the previous year — $3,331,734, down $2,681,728 from the previous year, a drop of 45 percent (it had been assessed at $6,013,462).

These 10 pieces of real estate have the highest assessed values in town as of Oct. 1, 2015, according to the town Assessor’s Office:

(Listed by: address — assessed value (70 percent of estimated value) — owner)

137 Hollow Tree Ridge Road — $38,365, 180 — Darien Financing LLC (Avalon Darien rental apartment complex)
410 Hollow Tree Ridge Road — $37,515,030 — Wee Burn Country Club
0 Great Island Road — $30,637,760 — William C. Steinkraus (gold-medal winner in the 1968 Olympics for individual horse jumping; his Wikipedia article)
300 Mansfield Ave. — $30,003,680 — Country Club of Darien
412 Hoyt St. — $23,096,150 — Woodway Country Club
12 Shennamere Rd. — $18,565,400 — Contentiamiento LLC (Is this residence owned by Ken Tropin?

Hear Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist from Charles Schwab & Co., speak about the economic and market outlook at the Darien Community Association (DCA) on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.

After a “violently flat” year in 2015, this year started off with a bang and clocked the worst five-day start to a year for stocks — ever. Is the market telling us something about the economy? Are China fears legit or overblown? Will the Fed continue to raise interest rates?

A new salon has opened its doors in Darien: Le Boudoir is now at 13 Grove St. and specializes in “blow outs.” Here’s an announcement about the store from the Darien Chamber of Commerce:

Mamoune Tazi is the celebrated owner and lead beautician at Le Boudoir. A salon veteran, his belief is that beauty is not about creating a look; it’s about creating a feeling. Mamoune’s specialty is the blow out.

Three restaurants in town received “Poor” ratings from Darien Health Department inspectors in the most recently released inspection reports; eight others were rated “Fair” and five “Good.”(See each restaurant’s score at the bottom of this article.)

How Darien’s restaurants are rated

Like this article? Like Darienite.com on Facebook and follow Darienite.com on Twitter. _________

The Darien system takes into account problems that are ongoing or that have been fixed, so a restaurant scoring higher than others on the state scale may actually get a lower score on the Darien scale, or vice versa.

What’s bright, shiny and new but part of something more than 20 years old? Darien Diner, which opened Saturday at its new location in a traditional metal diner building that would have been familiar in the 1950s. Editor’s note: This article has been updated as of 6:09 p.m. with new information. For its first day in the new spot, business is booming, with crowds of customers filling almost every table. There were spaces in the parking lot at 2 p.m., but not many (you can also park next door at Lithos restaurant, which Teddy and Olga Giapoutzis also own).

Two restaurant buildings not far from each other share the name “Darien Diner” on their signs — one, the place where the diner’s been for years; the other, the bright and shiny new building with the retro look a lot like a classic diner. The new building at 275 Post Road looks very close to opening. If you drive by this weekend, you might even see it open. It’s the former site of Friendly’s restaurant, where, formerly, Fribbles flowed. Darienite.com will be looking, and we’re contacting the owner.

First Selectman Jayme Stevenson says town officials are “finishing the details” for an agreement with Eversource to expand natural gas service in town, including along all of West Avenue, and town officials want the service to extend to the high school and Royle School. Noroton Heights Fire Station on Noroton Avenue would also get natural gas as a result of the project, and town officials want to extend a line up Hollow Tree Ridge Road to Middlesex Middle School for service there, Stevenson said. Typically, natural gas is expected to be available to homes and businesses directly along the route to new locations like these — in this case from West Avenue. “We’re moving forward with putting the final details on the [natural] gas expansion project development agreement,” Stevenson said. “I’ve been talking with [Darien Public Schools Superintendent] Dr. [Dan] Brenner about it.”

Update 1:56 p.m., Jan. 28:

The “Indoor Sidewalk Sales” starting Friday and running through Feb. 6 have another store participating: Seasons Too at 836 Post Rd., which will have 60 to 75 percent off “select floor samples.” Update 3:33 p.m., Jan. 21:

Here’s the Darien Chamber of Commerce’s announcement (the number of participating stores has been adjusted to 26 from 29):

The Darien Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that Darien retailers have pulled together for an AMAZING Darien Winter Sale!!

Out of seven eateries in Darien recently inspected by the town Health Department, six received ratings of “Good”; one, “Fair.” Darien Social, which had “Fair” or “Poor” ratings in its previous five most recent inspections, strongly improved by Jan. 22, receiving the highest score of the seven. The restaurant got a 98 out of a possible 100 points in the state health code scoring system and a “Good” rating in the town’s own scoring system. Another restaurant, Ten Twenty Post Oyster Bar and Bistro, had received a “Poor” rating on Jan.

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