Fans of Luigi's Italian Deli & Market in Hampden will soon be able to visit a new version of the deli, under new ownership. Luigi's last day at its original 36th Street location was Friday.
Hampden resident Chris Doiron said he has purchased Luigi's equipment, name and recipes from its original owner, Jeanine Little and is close to signing a lease on a new location for Luigi's on Chestnut Avenue, just a few blocks away from the original spot.
"It will be the same Luigi's that everybody came to love," said Doiron, a native of Providence, R.I., and a self-confessed fan of Luigi's food. "I want it to be what it was, and better if possible."
Doiron said he'd been in negotiations to buy Luigi's at its old spot on The Avenue when Little decided to end her lease early to make way for a new tenant. The chef Cyrus Keefer, formerly the chef at Fork & Wrench and Birroteca, has announced plans to open a 25-seat fusion restaurant named Pique in the space.