The owner of Luigi's Italian Deli is selling his Hampden cafe as he prepares to move across the country.
Owner Chris Doiron's significant other, Ashley Boycher, currently an associate exhibition designer at the Walters Art Museum, recently accepted a position at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Doiron plans to move to San Francisco with her, and hopes to open a concept similar to Luigi's on the West Coast.
Boycher will make the move in five to six weeks, Doiron said, and he'll follow as soon as the Luigi's sells. He's asking for $90,000 for the business, and plans to use the proceeds to start his new venture in San Francisco. Doiron pays $1,650 in monthly rent.
Jeanine Little originally opened Luigi's at 846 W. 36th St. in 2012. The deli closed in January 2015, and the space was on track to transform to a small restaurant by chef Cyrus Keefer. Those plans fell through, and Luigi's reopened under Doiron's ownership in April 2015.
He said he hopes to see a new owner keep the Luigi's brand intact.
"Ideally it's somebody who would have the same type of passion that I do," he said. "Somebody with the vigor to keep it going."
He plans to stick around to train the new owner, and hopes the buyer keeps the staff he's built during the last year and a half.
He said one thing that will help a new owner be successful in the space is maintaining high-quality products.
"There are a lot of ways that you could skimp on the business — ingredients and quality-wise," he said. "And it's a point of pride on my part that I haven't really done that."
Luigi's opens at 11 a.m. daily and remains open until 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 5 p.m. on Sundays.