Loopy Roof Partly Responsible For Connie & Ted’s Construction Delay

Nearly nine months after demolition crews began tearing down Silver Spoon on 8171 Santa Monica Blvd., construction work is still underway on a casual New England-style seafood restaurant that is scheduled to replace the once-iconic Weho coffee shop and diner.

Connie & Ted’s, as the upcoming restaurant will be called, will have an eye-catching, wave-like canopy roof over its outdoor patio. The sweeping—and swooping—structure appears to be at least partly responsible for construction delays surrounding the restaurant, according to WEHOville.com.

Last week, the website quoted construction manager Grant Grigoryan as saying that although he has helped construct many buildings, he has been associated with such a spectacular project. “It’s been very hard [to construct],” Grigoryan reportedly told WEHOville.

The project was initially scheduled to be completed by March 6, but the website quoted Grigoryan as saying that he expects more time will be needed.

"The rain stopped construction for two weeks," Donato Poto, a restauranter connected with the project, was quoted last December in a blog on the dining website Zagat. "And they couldn't finish the roof. It's that kind of stuff. From the pipes in the ground to the roof, it's all new."

West Hollywood Patch visited the construction site Monday and found workers toiling away furiously on the roof.

Silver Spoon was originally planned to be remodeled into Connie & Ted’s but was almost completely demolished instead.

According to a report issued last year by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Silver Spoon was sold to Chef Michael Cimarusti and Claim Jumper founder Craig Nickoloff.

Cimarusti was on the construction site Monday but declined to take any questions. Along with Poto, he co-owns the well-known Melrose seafood restaurant Providence, which was named one of “America’s Top 50 Restaurants” by Gourmet Magazine in 2006.

C&T, as Connie & Ted’s is referred to in short, will "definitely [be] an East Coast seafood house, but it won't be just all seafood," Poto was quoted as saying in the Zagat blog in December.