BY STEVE BARNES, The Times Union

SCHENECTADY — Cornells in Little Italy, closed since the beginning of the pandemic, reopens Friday, Jan. 28, with a new owner but almost entirely the same staff.

The menu (see it here) brings back past Cornells favorites, including cavatelli, chicken livers and Veal Raphael, but it also features what owner Maria Perreca Papa describes as an “elevated steak and seafood experience.”

Papa, whose family founded the neighboring Perreca’s Bakery in 1913, announced in July that she and a silent partner were buying Cornells, bringing together names that helped define Italian food in Schenectady for nearly 190 years combined. Papa and her partner also own More Perreca’s restaurant, which adjoins the bakery and is across a parking lot from the Cornells building. The bakery itself is owned by Papa and her brother Anthony Perreca Papa.

To read the complete article on The Times Union’s website, click here.

Photo by Lori Van Buren