Union Woodshop owners to open restaurant in Fenton fire hall

It's official. The City of Fenton Downtown Development Authority selected Union Joints (owners of Clarkston Union, Union Woodshop, Union General Store and Union Adworks) to open a restaurant in Fenton's old fire hall.

Other contenders for the spot were Lockhart's BBQ, Arbor Brewing Company and Tavern 131/Ciao Amici. The DDA narrowed it down to Clarkston Union and Arbor Brewing Company last week. The location has been vacant for a few years, and the city decided its best use would be as a restaurant.

Union Joints will keep the name Fenton Fire Hall, according to its proposal, and expects to open the restaurant in about eight months.

Owners Curt Catallo and his wife, Ann Stevenson, who recently opened the Vinsetta Garage in Berkley with partner KC Crain, vice president of Autoweek magazine, said in an e-mail, "We're wildly excited about this opportunity. Ann and I have always dug that building and preserving it as a restaurant is right up our alley!"

Plans are for indoor and outdoor seating, an open-pit kitchen and 60-tap biergarten. Catallo and Stevenson created the website www.fentonfirehouse.com so the community can follow the changes. The design fits into the couple's mantra of not straying from what was originally housed in buildings that they transform into restaurants. "The Fenton Fire Hall should be kept true to the building's original purpose," the restaurant proposal said. "We propose a joint that respects both the flame and the ability to douse it."

The building is on the corner of South Leroy and Ellen streets.

Source: http://detroit.metromix.com/restaurants/article/union-woodshop-owners-to/3108089/content

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