The owners of a new Bloomfield restaurant are making sure your locally grown burger and fries are served with a side of goodwill by donating 100 percent of its profits to charity.
Richard and Lois Nicotra’s Commons Cafe — a green-themed, quick-service breakfast and lunch restaurant at the Teleport — is quickly earning points as the go-to spot for eco-obsessed foodies with an appetite for top-notch nosh that rewards the stomach and the spirit at counter-service prices.
It’s a jaunty operation.
The glass-paneled, yellow-and-black decor features murals of Parisian and Tuscan cafe scenes and is hip enough to make passersby do a double take, while its health-smart menu lures them inside with choices ranging from salads (starting at $6.49), to turkey and brie wraps with spicy honey mustard ($6.99), to sandwiches stuffed with roasted veggies and herb goat cheese ($5.99). Burgers of the week and shakes of the month keep the menu fresh at this trailblazing eatery, currently seeking musicians for its outdoor performance stage.
Its carbon footprint offers food for thought, too.
Much of the food at Commons is harvested locally; recyclable packaging is used whenever possible; and the building boasts green features.
“Our roof is so green we have to water it!” says Richard Nicotra, a Westerleigh local who was inspired by the benevolence of late Hollywood actor Paul Newman, whose Newman’s Own line of food products donates its net profits to charities, while his Hole in the Wall Gang camp provides vacations for needy kids.
Nicotra, who created the Everything Yogurt franchise in the 1970s, is happy to spread his wealth in the borough of his birth.
“Staten Island doesn’t have a lot of people who have the ability to do something like this,” he said. “I love Staten Island, and I want to have something that lasts and keeps on going.”
The big-hearted power couple also owns a string of commercial holdings within the 415-acre wildlife preserve that houses the cafe, including the Hampton Inn and Suites, Lorenzo’s Restaurant, Bar and Cabaret, several office buildings, and the Hilton Garden Inn.
Now the Nicotras have cooked up a business venture that makes philanthropy its main course by connecting Commons Cafe to the community it serves — an enterprise that feeds their stomachs and their spirits, and comes with its own motto.
“Eat good. Do good,” says Lois Nicotra, explaining that every morsel sold at the Commons Cafe benefits Islanders, whether through their Bloomfield Conservancy, or their Lois and Richard Nicotra Foundation.
The conservancy promotes the protection of the borough’s environment, wetlands, and endangered trees, and the foundation gave away more than $40,000 to nearly 50 non-profit organizations and scholarship recipients in 2011. This year’s beneficiaries include the American Cancer Society ($500), Camp Good Grief of Staten Island ($750), Richmond Engine Company 1 ($1,000), and John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School ($1,500).
The money sends students to school, plants flowers, cleans streets, and helps non-profits on Staten Island help others, according to Lois Nicotra.
“No catches. You spend it, they get it,” she says. “Kind of makes the burger taste even better, right?”
Commons Cafe [2 Teleport Dr. off South Avenue in Bloomfield, (347) 466-4207, www.commonscafesi.com]. Open weekdays, 7 am–7pm, and Saturday, 7 am–3 pm.
Reach reporter Shavana Abruzzo at sabruzzo@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2529.
