Osteria sets table for banquets on Grand Island

Article and Photos by Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Occasions by Osteria has a historic heritage and a promising future, according to those who’ve sought a banquet and catering facility for Grand Island.

The facility opened to rave reviews and a ribbon-cutting Dec. 11 – just in time for the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce’s holiday party.

The business has taken up residence in the former Knights of Columbus Hall, 1841 Whitehaven Road. It’s the newest in a group of three venues operated by restaurateur Nick Pitillo. He also owns Osteria 166 on Franklin Street in downtown Buffalo, and Villaggio in his hometown of Ellicottville.

He explains the word “osteria” comes from the Italian language and describes a kind of meeting place.

Catering is a big part of the Osteria family of restaurants.

“We do onsite events all over Western New York,” Pitillo said. “This is going to be our main kitchen,” he said of the Grand Island site.

Osteria already has bookings lined up, having started this past week.

“We’re very much family-oriented and community-driven, starting from my first place of business many years ago. Osteria opened 13 years ago (in Buffalo.) Then we opened Villaggio 10 years ago,” Pitillo said.

“It’s a beautiful wedding venue,” he said of the Grand Island facility. “But it’s so much more than that.”

Behind the building, there is a beautiful colored waterfall, he said, and “There will be a gazebo over that – and that’s where they can take their vows.”

There will be a stage for a band, as well.

“The outside is really gorgeous,” Pitillo said.

In the back, the pavilions and the barbecue spots from the Knights’ days remain.

“Our intent is to have programming all summer, whether it be corporate events, concerts, things of that nature,” Pitillo said.

Inside, Osteria can accommodate over 200 people for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. For a full meal, “We can seat up to 160 comfortably” inside, Pitillo said. In total, “I’m comfortable with saying 1,000, all in, with the outside.”

Nick Pitillo, owner of Occasions by Osteria, with Shannon Burvid, the company’s director of operations, stand in the newly refurbished banquet facility. The building formerly was the Knights of Columbus Hall.

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A new chapter

COVID played a big part in the direction the business took, Pitillo said.

“When we started out catering, it was 10% to 15% of our business, and it’s now about 80%-85%,” Pitillo said.

He noted catering kept the business going through the pandemic: “We started a company called Stockthefreezer.com.

 “That Monday that the pandemic started, we were all pretty miserable – the entire world basically was devastated. What do we do now? Nobody knew what the future held.

“I got a call from a friend, on the Tuesday after the Monday after it started. It turns out it happened to be Joe Mancuso, who is Jim Panepinto’s partner in buying this and building this for us. And he said, ‘You should take a look at meal prep.’ ”

Pitillo said he held his first Zoom meeting about six years ago.

“We developed a website, redid a menu, completely created a new business model in 72 hours and launched,” he said. “But the biggest thing was we needed to make sure it was to feed the people that needed the food. So … we put a ‘buy a meal for someone in need’ button on there.

“I thought we’d sell a couple hundred meals. Within 20 minutes, it started pinging. I literally cried myself to sleep with people pinging us, and I put 28 people back to work in three days. We served well over 150,000 meals into the community.

“I see it as a really good fundraiser for schools.”

Pitillo said he is hoping to roll that out in the spring.

Director of Operations Shannon Burvid said the company recognizes there’s a big military presence in the area, too.

“We would like to help them, too,” she said.

For more information, visit https://occasionswny.com. For bookings, contact Crystal Smith, director of sales and catering, at info@occasionswny.com.

The catering packages include weddings, buffet, hors d’oeuvres, plated dinner and bar service. Osteria also delivers to special venues in Western New York, such as Griffis Sculpture Park, Shea’s Buffalo Theatre and Knox Farm in East Aurora, as well as to private homes.

Pitillo said that, for the first six months of operation of Occasions by Osteria, Grand Island residents will not be charged for the venue rental, only for the menu items and bar service.

The Knights of Columbus Hall and 8 acres of land on Whitehaven were purchased for $300,000 on March 28, 2023, by James J. Panepinto, president of Pinto Construction Services, and his partner, Joseph Mancuso, under the business name 1841 Whitehaven Blvd. LLC. The deed also names the Grand Island Catholic Club as owner. Panepinto is a longtime member of the Mary Star of the Sea Knights of Columbus Council No. 4752.

The Knights, who had been meeting at the venue since 1967, now meet at Old St. Stephen Church, which has also undergone a transformation. It is now the Grand Island Cultural Center, where community groups may meet.

Financial pressures, especially during COVID, forced club officials to sell the property at 1841 Whitehaven Road.

Nick Pitillo, owner of Occasions by Osteria, talks with former town supervisor Mary Cooke at the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce’s holiday party at the new banquet facility.

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Rave reviews

The transformation from a charitable Catholic men’s meeting place to a banquet hall was well-received by those who attended the Chamber’s holiday party. Some had a special connection to the Knights and thought both the banquet hall and the Knights benefited from the transition.

Frank Burkhart, a longtime member of the Knights of Columbus, attended the Chamber party and said he was impressed with the transformation to a banquet facility.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Burkhart said. “This building was suffering so much from deterioration that the Knights couldn’t afford to maintain. And the new ownership, they’ve made a commitment to transforming this building. It took them some time to figure out what the right thing was to do with it. It’s a beautiful facility, with beautiful grounds out back.”

Burkhart has been instrumental in renovating the Old St. Stephen Church to become the Grand Island Cultural Center, where the Knights and other community groups share space for meetings, theater performances and the Neighbors Foundation food pantry.

He said, “We recently got a certificate of occupancy for the upstairs,” where the Parish Players recently held the musical production of “Joseph and Mary.”

“It’s a great way to have a first show to kick off a reopening of the facility under its new use,” Burkhart said of the Grand Island Cultural Center.

Highway Superintendent Dick Crawford, also a member of the Knights, said he was pleased with his first look at Occasions by Osteria.

“What an elegant transformation,” Crawford said. “What a great venue now for Grand Island to have this kind of a hall.”

Crawford said the old Knights of Columbus Hall served Grand Island for decades, with a lot of events, but he’s pleased that Osteria will have a lot more banquets on the Island: “That’s a good thing. I wish them all the luck in the world.”

Former town supervisor Mary Cooke said, “It’s exciting because the renovation is incredible. I can’t wait to see the outside. It’s always nice in my book to have a renovation of an existing space.”

She said the Cooke family has a tie to the new facility: “It’s extra exciting because Osteria is where Jeff Jr. and Jane worked, before there was a ‘This Little Pig,’ ” the restaurant Cooke’s children now operate in Clarence Hollow.

Town Supervisor Peter Marston said of the renovated banquet hall, “It looks great – fantastic!”

He said that, a couple of years ago, the new owners who bought the Knights building spoke with him about what the Island needs.

“I said, ‘We need a meeting place.’ They came back to me about six months later and go, ‘That’s what we’re going to do.’ I said, ‘Great, we could use that,’ ” Marston said.

Town Supervisor Peter Marston goes through the line at Occasions by Osteria at the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce holiday party.