'Family Friendly' Restaurant Opens In Chestnut Hill Amid Pandemic

CHESTNUT HILL, MA — There's a new eclectic eatery in town. Bianca opened Thursday at the Street at Chestnut Hill. The restaurant, led by James Beard Award Winning chef Tim Cushman and his wife Nancy was supposed to open in March.

And then the pandemic hit and everyone, including the Cushmans pushed pause.

While they were rethinking how to open, the duo created a side Roman-style pizza pop up project dubbed "Mr. Roni Cups" in the space that would become Bianca. The menu tested pizza by the slice, rotisserie, pasta and sushi. And Mr. Roni Cups became a sort of soft opening for the couple.

With all of those options, they are calling it a "family friendly" restaurant.

“When we started to plan our opening for the second time - after it was put on hold back in March - we decided to start with Mr Roni Cups and offer a taste of what was to come at Bianca until we could establish a model that would be sustainable and safe," Nancy said.

She said figuring out how to stay open through the pandemic but also providing the food and hospitality that our guests crave is a bit of a challenge.

"We realize that folks have different comfort levels with dining in restaurants during the pandemic, and we want folks to feel welcome and safe," she said.

And with all the testing and the re-aranging, the restaurant opened quietly Thursday.

In addition to following the pandemic CDC guidelines for sanitization, spacing and masking, Bianca is requiring anyone who walks inside to have their temperature checked and the large windows on both ends of the restaurant will remain open through service to maximize air flow.

Bianca offers full-service, distanced indoor dining in its main dining room and on its two outdoor dining patios. The full service patio on the Green-side (Boylston Street side) of the building will be equipped with umbrellas and heaters. The pond-side patio at the rear of the building will offer seating for those who opt for takeout.

The Cushmans were also behind the high-end sushi restaurant O Ya, the Japanese Fenway spot Hojoko, among a bevy of other successful restaurant ventures.