I love it! I mentioned pairing art events with wine at the last ALL meeting enough for people to start being worried about my intake ;-)
I just like the atmosphere of wine and art and music! What kind of cool partnerships can be done!? And a new crowd to enjoy DTL along with happy residents and workers.
E~

I hope that when they say chocolates from Amesbury, they mean Ovedia - their chocolate is heavenly!

This is only tangentially related to your post. But I have to vent.

We had friends in from out of town this weekend, and we took advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday to show off our downtown and get a bite.

We arrived at Olive That and More at about 2:01, and the door was already locked, as they apparently close at 2.

So then we tried The Old Court. Closed.

Then we tried Ole. Closed. Mambo Grill. Closed. Cobblestones. Closed. Even the Trolley Diner. Closed.

The only things that appeared to be open were Mr. Jalapeno and Life Alive, neither of which appealed to us in the moment. We ended up tired, frustrated, and grumpy, and got take-out at Viet Thai, which was very good.

I realize restauranteurs need a rest and there's not a ton of foot traffic on a Sunday, but Jeez. I don't really get it.

So are they going to advertise outside of the city?

Lucy,

I spent this Sunday in downtown Worcester and ran into the same exact thing - nothing open. It came across as a very run down, uninviting, and even dangerous city. The city garages aren't even open. Bad first impression maybe, but that's all it takes to get someone to vow not to go back. Especially for the distance I traveled. This must be what happens when people come to visit Lowell on a Sunday. Then, the word of mouth kicks in. I just spent my lunch break bashing Worcester. Your friends might do the same for Lowell today. Remember The Sun article a year or two ago where Regis Filbin started off a show at the Auditorium bashing downtown Lowell on a Sunday?

What my trip to Worcester did teach me is how quaint, interesting, and beautiful of a city center we have here in Lowell. During the warmer months especially, how do we convince people from the Greater Lowell area to come down here on weekends instead of being stuck inside a mall? Seems like a chicken and the egg problem. Budgets are tight from the individual to the federal level right now, so what do we do?

Has the city, along with the support of some local businesses, ever done a direct mail campaign? I don't know, send out 1,000 postcards for one-time validated parking and x% off y at a, b, and c on Saturdays this spring/summer to 1,000 random addresses in Greater Lowell. Maybe it will start a few positive water cooler discussions with people who otherwise would make the drive to Concord or Newburyport on a nice day.

ok lucy the dog,

here you,

olymipia, viet thai, athenian corner, dubliner, mr jalapenos, life alive, ..... should i continue?

midnite goober hit it right on the head ,i just mover to dtl and all open on sundays ,u might need to take off ur beer googles all those rst are very good even tough i dont like thai my bf took me there and the food was great (and a bit spicy but so was he)had the lamb kebob at the athens rest mouth watering,had drinks and apps at the dubliner not bad , had chicken at the olympia ,good(service was o.k. but the fact is they are open and u probaly more just have to take those glasses off

barbie,

i can hardly even make out what you're saying. but my sole and hardly controversial point is that the majority, or at least half, of the downtown restaurants are closed on sunday. and that strikes me as odd.

Lucy,
I agree with you 100%, not enough places are open on Sundays. I would say that maybe 30% of all DTL business are open on Sundays and that's just not good enough if you want to draw in a crowd. We've had this discussion many times before on this forum and the contrarians always like to bring up the same 5 restaurants when slamming someone who states the obvious.
Also, I can't really understand Barbie Mac either.
This is not a text message, nor is it facebook. Punctuation is useful when trying to convey a point.

So sorry about the typing miscues,sometimes i type and my 1st language takes over ,my apologies but it seems that more people need to frequent dtl on sundays to make it viable for these places to stay open in ,(whats a contrarian?)and no my 1st language is`nt pig latin.how often does lucy& yourself come dtl?

FYI: I am downtown at least three to four nights a week, and I don't even live downtown. I eat at Cobblestones, Mambo, Ole, SEA, the Old Court, and Life Alive, to name a few. I also shop at Humanity on a regular basis, once again, more than I'd like to admit. I also go out for drinks at least once a week with friends downtown, more if there's live music. I could keep going, but that would be ridiculous. This is why I KNOW that Sundays downtown is a ghost town. I'm not just talking restaurants. And yes, I totally agree that there needs to be more foot traffic downtown, that still doesn't negate the simple point we are trying to make. That being, that too many places are closed.

If you are a working professional outside the city, then Lowell downtown hardly caters to you. I think businesses like Centro and Blue Tahel are smart enough to realize that the people who spend money come home around 6:30 or 7:00 from jobs outside of Lowell. I live in Lowell and I find it discouraging that the city shuts down at 5Pm during the weekdays and almost completely on Sundays. The city has three good coffee shops but only one is open on Sunday or long hours. The coffee shops, restaurant and stores that refuse to do business on Sunday or chose to be open only until 5pm will keep losing business if their demographic is those who will spend money on their products or service. I spend most of my time in Boston because I know that places will be open past 5:00 pm or on Sunday. Three cheers to the places that stay open... You will continue to get my business. And Lucy you did yourself and your friends a disservice by skipping Mr. Jalapeno's . They have the most authentic mexican food... if you like real mexican. The tamales are spot on.

BUT.......getting back to Tutto Bene, I took a peek in the window and I agree - the place looks great and the subterranean atmosphere is pretty cool! Can't wait for it to open.