Dirt Cowboy Cafe, the local coffee house on the corner of Main and Allen Streets, recently acquired three new owners, two of whom own Tony's Pizza on Lebanon Street, now known as Sabino's Pizza.
Tom Guerra, the original co-owner of the Cafe, temporarily abandoned his establishment in May after suffering a nervous breakdown. His silent co-partner, Dave Pambianchi, an English teacher from Middle Village, N.Y., came to Hanover after Guerra left and tried to maintain the Cafe's operations.
Pambianchi has since returned to his teaching job in New York and sold most of his shares in the business to the new owners, retaining only 8 percent for himself.
"The three new partners have taken a whole load off of me," Guerra said in a recent interview. "They bring a lot of experience with them."
"They handle the inventory, the bookkeeping and straightened out the dessert handling," Guerra said.
Tony Defeo, who used to be a partner in Tony's Pizza but has sold his share to his step-son, is now one of Guerra's new partners. Defeo said he was amazed that Guerra used to completely manage the coffee house by himself.
"It's incredible pressure," Defeo said. "How Tom managed to do it by himself is beyond me." He added that all three partners are struggling under the workload of running the Cafe.
Doug Guyette and Jim Cantore are the other two new partners of the Cafe. Guyette and Cantore also own Sabino's Pizza. After Defeo sold his ownership to his step-son, the name of the pizzeria was changed to Sabino, the name of Defeo's grandfather.
Under the new management, the Dirt Cowboy Cafe offers increased hours, operating from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day, and a selection of ice cream.
"The ice cream didn't do well when we first put it in. Four out of five people asked for yogurt," Defeo said. In response, Defeo said the Cafe will soon replace the ice cream with Stonybrook frozen yogurt in four flavors.
Other coming amenities will include a fresh coffee roaster. "You will see us make the coffee right in front of you," Defeo said. The coffee supplier, Millstone, will also retail its coffee beans at the Cafe.
Because of a competition clause in the lease, the Cafe is restricted from offering a more expansive and diverse dining menu which would compete directly with nearby eateries like Murphy's Tavern and 5 Olde Nugget Alley.
A new art director has also been appointed to coordinate all the monthly art exhibits at the Cafe. A quilt exhibit will soon be coming for two weeks, Guerra said.
After Guerra's departure, several interested buyers approached Pambianchi, who claims the Cafe was receiving close to 20 offers a day.
"Tom is visionary," Defeo said. "The feedback we get from our customers here say it's more like New York than downtown Hanover. It's not the typical style cafe."
Currently Guerra and his three new partners each own 23 percent of the business.
