Fugazzi does a 360

Independent restaurants have to affect constant change in order to keep in the foreground of foodies’ minds and stay afloat in an industry where recognition stands between success and failure.

Sometimes that change is subtle.

In the case of Fugazzi in Hotel Lusso, it’s total.

After a number of management changes in recent years under continued ownership by Joe and Mary Dennison – who own Hotel Lusso – the restaurant and its adjacent lounge, Cavallino, were purchased by William Webster, who immediately started remodeling and reimagining the menu and business plan at 1 N. Post St.

Webster – the original owner of Herbal Essence and the current owner of Zola and Isabella’s Restaurant and Gin Joint – had a simple idea for the space: He wanted to bring back the successes of its glory days.

To that end, it needed something aside from menu and décor changes. It needed a new name.

So Webster decided on 360.

“Honestly, anyone I’ve asked about Fugazzi for the past two months I’ve been looking at buying it says, ‘Oh my God, I haven’t been there in four or five years,’ ” Webster said. “That’s the story of everybody’s life about this place. I hadn’t been here in four or five years. That’s back when this place was popular. That’s when it had a name for itself.”

The goal with 360 is to bring the restaurant full-circle, Webster said, and bring back a more traditional steak, seafood and Italian style with modern flair.

As he tells it, it’s going to be a far cry from where Fugazzi went in recent years.

“It’s been kind of just lost in trend,” Webster said, noting Fugazzi’s frequent focus on Asian-French fusion. “I just wanted to bring it back to what it originally was. I mean, it was an Italian seafood steakhouse. That’s what it was known for, that’s when it was packed. … I’ve always liked this spot. I came here in ’96, it opened in ’94 – I always thought it was one of the hottest spots in town. It was just a unique place.”

360’s décor has a Mondrian-esque, hard-edge feel, with vivid red, black and white along crisp, sleek lines. At present, it’s without permanent exterior signage, but Webster says he has something special in the works.

“I’ve got Dan Spalding and those guys working on a crazy sign that’s going to wrap around the brick out front there, so it’ll come around 360 (degrees). But just like anything Spalding builds,” he joked about the man behind the now-famous Zola décor, “it takes forever.”

Now open seven days a week for lunch and dinner (11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to close, with breakfast beginning in the near future), the menu boasts amalgamation of modern and classic salads, sandwiches and appetizers, including Dungeness Crab Cakes ($11.95), “One of a Kind” Mac & Cheese ($5.95), Warm Goat Cheese and Tofu Salad ($9.95) and – yep – a Monte Cristo sandwich ($10.95).

The entrée list features modern-classic steak and seafood dishes – think Pepper-crusted New York ($26.95), Sautéed Halibut Florentine ($19.95) and Potato-crusted Salmon ($18.95) – along with Italian pasta dishes, such as the Herb-crusted Veal Gnocchi and the obligatory Seafood Alfredo ($20.95).

Since he bought the rights to the entire food and beverage portion of Hotel Lusso, the new business plan also includes full room-service for the hotel, which Webster said was an element previously lacking at Fugazzi.

Fans of Cavallino Lounge shouldn’t be worried about finding a new hangout. Although the décor has changed a bit, the name remains, as do the famous $5 appetizer deals at happy hour, which keeps the same hours (3 to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close).

As the new owner, Webster wanted to make his mark on the business, but as with everything in life, it’s smart to fix what’s broken and, in many cases, leave well enough alone.

“Cavallino’s always had a name for itself, and we don’t really want to mess with that,” he said. “We just wanted to mess with the décor of it and open it up so people can see it again. But the restaurant itself, I didn’t want to be just another guy running it. I wanted people to know that we actually updated it and changed it for the positive. I didn’t want it to be, you know, ‘Joe and Mary (Dennison) found another guy.’ Obviously, if you’re gonna own it, you’re gonna put more love into it.”