Coming Soon To The Surf Club: "Great Food, Great Service And An Enjoyable Summer For All"

Twenty six years ago, John Ceneri saw an ad seeking someone to run a summer concession stand at Paugusset Club in Orange, CT. He had never run a concession before, but decided to give it a shot. 

"They told me, that's the room, do what you've got to do," he said Saturday while visiting Madison's . After more than twenty years at Paugusset, along with shorter stints at other clubs, Ceneri has been recommended by the Madison's Beach & Recreation Department to run the summer concession at the Surf Club from summer 2012 through summer 2014. The Board of Selectmen are scheduled to discuss and take action on that recommendation at their meeting Monday at 7:30 p.m. at town campus. 

With all those years of experience behind him--at Paugusset, The Woodbridge Club in Woodbridge, CT, the High Lane Club in North Haven, and the Paradise Country Club in Hamden, CT--Ceneri says he has a good understanding of what works at beach and swim clubs. He says he's looking forward to introducing a new menu at the Surf Club and that he plans to hone that menu over the course of the summer. 

High school teacher, coach during the winter

During the school year, he's a physical education teacher and girls basketball coach with the Hamden School System, which leaves his summers free to focus on his concession business. His business is named after his two daughters, Marisa and JoAnna. In addition to his summer work at the clubs, Ceneri, who lives in East Haven with his family, also has been a food and drink vendor at the East Haven Fall Festival for the past ten years and this year has been selected as food and beverage chairman for the festival.

It was his daughter JoAnna Nunziato, now a Madison resident, who alerted him to the opportunity at the Surf Club after seeing a local news report. 

He said he hopes JoAnna, who works as a pharmacist and lives just a few miles from the Surf Club, will be able to help him out on weekends over the summer. Other than that, he plans to work with a staff of about 10, most of whom have already been hired. He said Hamden High School, where he works, has an excellent culinary program and that many of his employees are graduates of either that program or other culinary programs. 

Hours at Surf Club will probably be 11 to 7 or 8, with the possibility of breakfast on weekends

He expects the hours of the concession at the Surf Club to be about 11 to 7 or 8 and he is considering breakfast hours on the weekends, if there is a demand for that. 

As for the proposed menu, he is picking from the items that have proven most popular during his concession work over the past 26 years. The menu will include about ten different kinds of wraps, including a tuna wrap, chicken club wrap, chicken parmesan wrap, teriyaki chicken wrap, crispy Buffalo chicken wrap, a Philly cheese steak wrap, and an Italian wrap. He'll be offering Gatorade, Snapple Teas, Pepsi products, flavored waters, fruit smoothies, coolatas, slushies, Good Humor ice cream, chips, and candies, according to menus he submitted to the town.

There will also be kids meals, burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, and several kinds of salads. He also plans to offer lobster rolls, both lobster salad and hot lobster rolls with butter. He says he's also been experimenting with seafood and clam chowders. 

"I know what people are looking for"

Ceneri says he knows that Splash at the Surf Club, which ran the concession last year, offered some higher end items, particularly for dinner. Splash, which did not bid on the contract this year according to town officials, offered dinner specials that included Island Shrimp with mango salsa, Teriyaki Flank Steak Salad, Sesame Salmon, and Tilapia Florentine.

But Ceneri said he thinks he knows what people will be looking for when they go to the beach. "What people like at the beach is fried seafood," he said. "I've been doing this for so long, for twenty six years, I know what people are looking for, lighter lunches, smoothies, that kind of thing." 

And he says he's willing to experiment and try new things as he gets to know the clientele at the Surf Club, particularly when it comes to dinner specials. In his letter to town officials, submitted in March 2012, he said, "... if selected as the vendor for the Surf Club concession for the 2012-2014 beach seasons, I will guarantee great food, great service and an enjoyable summer for all. This will be my sole priority for the upcoming seasons. I look forward to the opportunity to develop the Surf Club concession into a find summer dining establishment." 

"I'm looking forward to serving the people of Madison. I hope everyone is looking forward to an exciting new menu," he said Saturday, while surveying his new room at the Surf Club.