Connecticut

CT restaurant reveals ‘sacrifice’ for special neighbors by closing ‘at its peak.’ And a hope to move

Published

1 year ago

June 19, 2024

Press Room

CT restaurant reveals ‘sacrifice’ for special neighbors by closing ‘at its peak.’ And a hope to move

Yes, there are restaurants across Connecticut that are closing because of lagging business or changing tastes.

But in the case of J Restaurant Bar’s closure, they are actually, “on top of our game,” said owner Jordan Dikegoros.

“It’s nice to jump out on top,” he said. “Our business is at its peak, which makes it that much harder.”

They’re jumping out now, for the sake of the children at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, but are also shopping for a new location.

This week the restaurant of 54 years, an “oasis” to hospital visitors and staff-announced their closure for July 3 to make way for a parking garage to serve CCMC, located across the street.

The plan was in place three years ago and Dikegoros said he received a “fair deal” to sell four parcels.

But as closure time draws near, it’s “bittersweet,” not because of potential lost profit, but because of the close connections he’s made with the hospital and families whose children are being treated across the street at the children’s hospital. In addition, plenty of visitors come from Hartford Hospital, also across the street, Dikegoros said.

J Restaurant Bar created outdoor seating during the pandemic.

“It’s so much more than a restaurant,” Dikegoros said. “We’re an oasis for families. “We’re not pushing specials. We’re comforting them by giving them a place to escape reality for half an hour.”

Yes, the casual restaurant has pizza, Italian dishes, steak, seafood, and sandwiches.

But there were also lots of hugs that came with many customers who shared their poignant stories and deepest feelings. Dikegoros said they ate, returned, often with the healed child, and in some cases he’s become personal friends.

John Caezza and his wife, Dianne, of Farmington were at CCMC for two stints, 10 months at a time while their son was being treated.

“I struggle to call it a restaurant because it’s so much more,” John Caezza said. “The community and the city are losing a true gem.”

The Caezzas ate at J Restaurant Bar every night during their stay except Sundays, as the eatery was closed. John Caezza said no matter how hard one tries, there’s no hiding the lanyard hospital pass for returning visitors.

Dikegoros would connect families with one another to share stories, know they weren’t alone; seat them in a quiet spot for privacy if they needed it, listened to stories. In the case of the Caezzas who were there so often, if they were looking for something new on the menu, the restaurant would make anything they wanted, John Caezza said.

As for location, John Caezza said it was comforting to know they could “escape” for an hour or two with their son right across the street.

“It’s just the environment they created,” he said. “My wife and I would have gone insane if it wasn’t for that place. It’s a special place.”

Caezza said that with all the hours spent there he witnessed so many acts of kindness on the restaurant’s part, including donating hundreds of pizzas to the hospital and emergency first responders.

At some point the restaurant even constructed a New Year’s Eve Ball to “drop” for the kids across the street during the holiday.

The restaurant has been in the family for 54 years, open originally as Pizza Plus. The name changed in 2007 and Dikegoros has been running it for 37 years. The “J” in the name is for Jordan.

J Restaurant Bar created extensive outdoor seating and space during the pandemic.

He said they have a great relationship with the hospital, its employees and patient visitors.

Dikegoros said he made a promise years ago to a former CCMC CEO, “When you guys expand I’ll be here for you.”

By selling the properties to LAZ parking for the parking garage, he is making good on that promise.

“We sacrificed for the children’s hospital…They’ve been great neighbors,” he said, noting there was really nowhere else to put the garage that will add 910 spaces.

“As the time is winding down, it’s getting a little emotional,” Dikegoros said.

While the COVID-19 pandemic killed many restaurant businesses, they never closed and the restaurant thrived, Dikegoros said.

Early on in the pandemic they created an outdoor eating area. At the peak they provided individual meals to go for hospital staff funded by donations, including some of their own. The business uptick never stopped, he said.

Dikegoros said they are hoping to reopen on the first floor of the parking garage, but that’s at least two years out until it’s built. They are currently located at 297 Washington St.

Meanwhile, they’ve been shopping for another location in the same Frog Hollow neighborhood as well as in suburbs so they can open sooner.

It could result in two J Restaurant Bar establishments, he said.

Earlier last year, Connecticut Children’s held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $326 million clinical tower, the largest expansion to the hospital since construction began on the current building in 1994.

As part of the expansion, the hospital teamed up with LAZ parking to construct a new parking garage and pedestrian walkway, to accommodate for the increased traffic.

The restaurant announced on Facebook this week that they will have a final full dinner service on June 29. July 1, 2, 3rd will be modified hours and menus.

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Connecticut

Researcher restores forgotten Black military family to Connecticut history

Published

5 hours ago

November 25, 2025

Press Room

Researcher restores forgotten Black military family to Connecticut history

SIMSBURY, Conn. (WFSB) – As America marks its 250th year, researchers are uncovering stories of people whose names didn’t make history books but whose sacrifices shaped the nation.

In Simsbury, one such story centers on Esther Wallace Jackson, a woman born free to formerly enslaved parents who became the anchor of a multigenerational military family whose service spans nearly every major American conflict.

Jackson’s story was almost lost, scattered across probate records and fading documents.

Connecticut researcher John Mills spent years piecing it together, uncovering a formerly enslaved family whose military contributions include service from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War.

Mills, a genealogist and founder of the nonprofit Alex Breanne Corporation, discovered the family while tracing the family tree of a Civil War soldier from Bloomfield.

“It turns out he was a grandson of Peter and Esther Jackson. And so, I started chasing down that story and discovered that Peter Jackson had been enslaved in Simsbury,” Mills said.

The family’s military legacy runs deep. Jackson’s father, London Wallace, served in the French and Indian War.

Her three brothers fought in the Revolutionary War.

Generations later, seven of Peter and Esther’s grandsons served in the Civil War, and six never returned home.

“With every major conflict, this family is deeply involved,” Mills said.

For men who were enslaved or newly freed, military service carried deeper meaning.

“You’re fighting for the country while you also don’t have the same freedom as others,” Mills said.

Mills partnered with the Simsbury Historical Society and the Department of Veterans Affairs to install a burial marker honoring the family’s military legacy.

The marker was placed next to the headstones of Peter and Esther Jackson.

In June, descendants gathered to see their family’s untold story commemorated.

“The intent was to have every person that we knew of who fought in one of these U.S. conflicts that were a part of their family on this monument,” Mills said.

Jackson’s obituary described her as a respected community member who walked two miles to her church on Hopmeadow Street well into her nineties.

Her legacy now lives in the Simsbury Public Library, where a hand-painted portrait depicts her likeness using features of her descendants.

“We unveiled it on June 19, 2025. Now, we have something visual so that the family and the community have to align with the story of Esther Jackson,” Mills said.

Mills said the research serves a broader purpose beyond memorializing individuals.

“The information we find, the research we do, is not only for them to be memorialized. It’s to create something that the public and the community, that specific town, has something that gives them the history,” Mills said.

The Wallace-Jackson descendants say they plan to return to Simsbury this Memorial Day to place flags at the monument bearing their family’s name.

Click here for more information about the Alex Breanne Corporation.

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Connecticut

Ned Lamont’s solid approval rating holding up, new poll shows

Published

23 hours ago

November 25, 2025

Press Room

Ned Lamont’s solid approval rating holding up, new poll shows

Independent polling conducted after Gov. Ned Lamont’s reelection kickoff found Connecticut voters give him a solid approval rating, but a significant minority are “indifferent or neutral” about him serving a third term.

A Nutmeg State Poll released Monday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found voters approve of his performance by a margin of 55% to 38%, a net approval rating of +17, virtually unchanged since September.

Lamont’s challenger for the Democratic nomination, Rep. Josh Elliott of Hamden, barely made an impression among likely Democratic voters after four months of campaigning. Nearly 80% had no opinion of him, while 69% had a favorable opinion of the two-term governor.

If a Democratic primary were held today, the poll found Lamont outpolling Elliott, 55% to 7%, with 37% undecided and 2% saying they would write in someone else.

The data released Monday offered no matchups between Lamont and either of the two Republican candidates, Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich or former Mayor Erin Stewart of New Britain.

Overall, 34% of voters were enthusiastic (11%) or satisfied (23%) about Lamont’s candidacy for a third term, while 31% were dissatisfied (21%) or angry (10%), 28% indifferent or neutral, and 6% unsure.

Among Democratic voters, the poll found little evidence of the dissatisfaction that liberal Democratic lawmakers have expressed about Lamont over his refusal to embrace a more progressive tax code or higher spending.

Eighty-seven percent of self-described liberals, 76% of progressives and 63% of moderates had favorable opinions of Lamont. Forty-eight percent of socialists had a favorable opinion, but only 15% of socialists were negative.

Asked to name the most important problems facing Connecticut, the cost of living was named by 22%, following by taxes (18%), housing (15%), jobs and the economy (10%) and immigration (5%). Four percent mentioned national issues or the federal government.

The poll was conducted from Nov. 12 to 17 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5% percent on questions posed to all voters and 6.5% on questions posed only to likely Democratic voters.

The survey is based on “a probability-based web panel” recruited by phone, text-to-web, or mail-to-web surveys sent to randomly chosen individuals.

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Connecticut

Quiet today with rain later tomorrow

Published

2 days ago

November 24, 2025

Press Room

A chilly start today, but it will be a quiet day ahead after the early clouds, sprinkles and flurries move out! Looking quiet for much of the day tomorrow before rain arrives late. The heavy rain moves out with just a few scattered showers possible for Wednesday’s busy travel. Turning wind & chilly for Thanksgiving and colder & windier for all of your shopping plans Friday.

Early this morning: Variable clouds with a flurry or shower clearing & chilly with lows in the 30s.

Today: Clouds moving out! Mostly sunny & a bit windy for the morning through noon with highs 45-51.

Tonight: Some increasing cloudiness & frosty with lows 27-35.

Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy with rain arriving 3-6pm. Highs in the lower to mid 50s.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy and mild with a few isolated showers. Highs in the upper 50s to around 60!

Thanksgiving Day: Sun & clouds, becoming windy and colder. Highs near 50, then falling throughout the day. Wind chills in the 30s for the afternoon with wind gusts 30-35mph.

Friday: Sun and clouds, blustery and cold! A few flurries possible. Winds could occasionally gusting to 40mph. Highs in the 40s with wind chills in the 20s and teens.

Saturday: Sun and clouds and continued cold. Breezy with highs near 40.

Sunday: Becoming cloudy with evening rain developing. Highs in the mid to upper 40s.

Monday: Rain tapering. Highs in the mid 50s.

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