Sostanza will serve ‘American fusion’ fare in restored, turn-of-the-century building

Sostanza, downtown Tooele’s first fine-dining restaurant in several years, is nearing completion and set to open by mid-April, according to its owners.

After two years of planning and construction, partners Spiros Makris and Terri Ellsworth are almost finished with restoration and build-out work on two adjacent historic buildings on the west side of Main Street between Vine Street and Utah Avenue.

“Tooele is lacking a fine-dining restaurant,” said Makris. “A place to go out for a good meal, maybe for a prom date or anniversary. Right now people are going into Salt Lake, and by the time you include the travel time it takes four hours to go out to dinner.”

Makris, who moved to Erda five years ago after opening Jim’s Diner in Tooele, has been in the restaurant business with his family for 35 years.

“I also wanted to help make downtown Tooele a place for people to hang out again,” Makris said.

Makris bought the buildings on Main Street two years ago with a fine dining establishment in mind. About the same time, Ellsworth, who grew up in Tooele but has spent most of her adult life in St. Louis, Mo., and Santa Fe, N.M., came back to Tooele and had the same idea. Working as a business consultant with a background in restaurant and catering, she was coincidentally eyeing the same property with the same idea as Makris.

When Ellsworth found out Makris bought the property, she contacted him and the two formed a partnership to create Sostanza.

The two buildings that form Sostanza were built in the early 1900s and have now been completely renovated. Everything but the original brick and the tin dining room ceiling was removed. A new roof was put on and a new concrete floor was poured. A hole was cut in the wall between the two buildings to combine them into one interior. The northernmost building will house the general dining room, and the southern building will house a more informal lounge area and banquet room. The banquet room, pending final approval from the city, will hold 100 people, according to Makris.

Makris describes the menu as “American fusion.”

“Our menu will be unique,” Makris said. “There isn’t another restaurant like it. We even expect to have people from Salt Lake coming to Tooele to eat here.”

The menu will include pasta dishes like a house spaghetti that comes with a 10-ounce braised meatball and marinara sauce, fresh fish ncluding braised halibut, bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, and aged Angus beef steaks, including a cowboy ribeye. Entrees will range from a $9 pasta dish to prime-cut steaks. The menu will be seasonal and will feature regular specials as well.

Sostanza will also have a full-service bar with specialty cocktails and a selection of fine wines. Decor will be “upscale traditional” to match the historic nature of the building, according to Ellsworth.

Makris and Ellsworth also plan on opening up the alley to the north of the building for outdoor seating — an al fresco concept that could involve music.

The upstairs floors of the buildings have been roughed in for finishing, Makris said, but architects and city officials have to be consulted before any build-out can begin. Markis’ ultimate dream is to put in a sushi bar over the Sostanza dining room.

Makris expects Sostanza will open by April 15, though that date isn’t set in stone yet. Initially, the restaurant will only be open for evening dinner service and catering. It will employ 20 to 25 people. Down the road, Sostanza may provide lunch service, Makris said.

“Sostanza in Italian means ‘to nourish,’” said Ellsworth, “And that is what we want to do — nourish downtown Tooele.”

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com