He came home to his family in Wolcott and proposed the idea of creating a new restaurant in the vacated space. Avdulla and his wife had four children by then and wanted a business of their own. Their extended family lived nearby and could help with childcare. The Zhuta family has three girls and one boy. The two oldest ones are 22 and 19 years old today and in dental school. The 18-year-old son plays soccer in Europe, and the 13-year-old daughter is in high school.
It took four to five months to renovate the former Friendly's space and update it to current trends. The new owners and their family members worked from August until October 7 of last year to remove the outdated equipment and freshen the dining area with new design details in color and lighting fixtures. "We wanted a more modern building [on the exterior] but the town wants to keep [the look] the same, said Agnesa Zhuta. They added a patio after they opened and would like to expand the kitchen someday. Avdulla is the chef and spends most of each day working in the restaurant. When he first arrived in the U.S., he was still in high school but was already working several jobs, first as a bus boy and then a baker at Dunkin' Donuts, when the company still made the donuts on premises. Then he served as a cook in his father s restaurant.
My husband works a lot of hours so we changed from being open 24 hours to closing Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:00 so that he could go to soccer practice (and spend more time with the kids]. The kids began working here when they were 14. We wanted to show them how to work and earn money. They still come in on some Saturdays and Sundays to help, said Agnesa.
She added, "Life is hard, especially on families. If you relax, then it's time to sleep. We try to be close to our customers and respect them. Everyone has something that makes life hard. Avdulla has everything under control here, so we have more time with our customers. He wants people to be happy. We always try to offer them what they ask for if it is not on the specials menu. We want them to be happy."
The couple focuses on creating a family atmosphere in their restaurant, and they get to know their customers. They also aim to provide good service. Although it was difficult to attract new staff members after the pandemic, they have recovered and are fully staffed and busy. "We have a good life, with time for family and kids. Maybe someday we might have a second restaurant, but were in no rush, said Agnesa who also answered the following questions:
Q. How would you describe the cuisine of your restaurant?
A. We serve a combination of American, Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. We like to include specials from Albanian cooking. We come from the Macedonian part of Albania we have breakfast all day and homemade pies to dine in or take out.
Q. What is the most popular dish?
A. Our egg Benedicts and fresh waffles [Belgian and thin] are the most popular.
Q. What is your personal favorite?
A. I like a plain waffle with butter and syrup. My husband likes it with ice cream.
Q. What is your secret weapon ingredient?
A. We don t have a secret ingredient. We tried to keep the original flavor of each dish with not too much spice. [For example] we keep potatoes tasting like original potatoes. I love cooking. We both grew up on farms. My husband and I both had our own corn fields. I saw my mother always cook. We want everyone to experience all tIhe flavors. I want all the food to taste like mom's. My husband is the chef here. He is in the kitchen all the time. He learned from his father, who died last September.
Q. If you could take one celebrity chef out to dinner, who would it be and where would you take them?
A. I like Bobby Flay. I like his ideas. I would bring him here [to our restaurant].
Q. Do you have any favorite cookbook that you especially love?
A. Albanians use so much dough. They also do so much risotto (rice pilaf) and pizza and traditional foods. I don't want to lose our traditions. But I also go on the Internet and try new recipes and put them [on the menu] here.
Q. What herb or spice best describes your personality?
A. I like salty things. I put extra salt on every dish. vegeta" is a special spice mixed in Europe with salt and mixed spices including pepper, paprika, parsley. (It's a vegetable-based seasoning that's used to add flavor in soups, stews and sauces.) Albanians eat spicy food too. We like hot peppers. My mom pickled small red peppers like chili peppers.
Q. What do you like to cook when having guests to your home?
A. I try to be traditional or have our kind of pizza with roasted peppers and tomatoes. Or I would have American or Italian food mixed with traditional. I like chicken francaise a lot or steak with rice pilaf/risotto.
Unionville Family Restaurant,
1835 Farmington Avenue, Unionville, CT
860.255.7263