THE COURIER/Photo by Angy Altamirano 30sandy comeback COOKING up a COMEBACK LIC RESTAURANT BETTER THAN BEFORE BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO As an ocean rushed down the street and fi lled their basement-level restaurant with seven feet of water, brother and sister duo Laura and Lawrence Vecchio could only watch in fear of losing everything. The Vecchio family was one of the thousands of business owners who received massive amounts of damage after Superstorm Sandy hit the city last October. With their family-owned restaurant, Mia Famiglia, located at 44-29 9th Street – which opened only months before Sandy, in April 2012 – just a little over 500 feet away from the East River, the siblings were expecting a maximum of two to three feet of water after hearing the warnings of a storm. However, after standing in the fi rst level lobby of the Wyndham Hotel, on whose NOVEMBER 2013 I LIC COURIER I www.queenscourier.com lower level the restaurant is located, and watching the storm pass through Long Island City, they knew the next few months were going to be diffi cult. “We anticipated water but not that,” said Laura, who is the head chef at the restaurant. “It looked like an ocean coming down the street.” The family had close to $275,000 in losses and damages, including kitchen equipment, tables, chairs, walls and much more they had to repair and replace. “Nothing was salvaged,” said Lawrence.
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