Reopenings

Napa Bar Set to Reopen After a Murder Closed It 36 Years Ago

Photo: Eater

Back in 1974, Fagiani’s Cocktail Lounge & Liquor Store on Main Street in downtown Napa was the site of a gruesome sexual assault and murder that stuck in the consciousness of the town for decades. As the Chron’s Inside Scoop reports today, the bar remained closed and in the hands of the victim’s younger sister, Muriel Fagiani, until 2007 when she sold the landmark property to friends Steve and Joanna Hasty. The couple planned to open a restaurant in the space, and at one point were in negotiations with Thomas Keller, but that deal fell through, and they also say that the unsolved murder haunting the space stymied their efforts to move forward.

Then last month, authorities solved the 36-year-old homocide of Anita Andrews — a crime that was as locally notorious as the Zodiac murders — using DNA evidence, linking it to one Roy Melanson, a 70-year-old career criminal who is serving a life sentence in Colorado for another murder.

And now, the Hastys have announced that Fagiani’s will finally reopen July 4th with the new name of The Bar, serving rustic, farm-to-table food, with a heavy wine focus and a fancy cocktail list. A spokeswoman for the owners adds that they are also open to the suggestions of the chef they hire. (The Hastys were

We hope that Muriel Fagiani, who must be 86 at this point, will be in attendance at the opening to celebrate the closure of finding her older sister’s killer and the rebirth of her family’s bar.

Pop a Cork for Napa Lounge’s Rebirth [Chron]
Earlier: KellerWire: One Deal Falls Through, Another Imminent? [Eater]

Napa Bar Set to Reopen After a Murder Closed It 36 Years Ago