Joann DiNapoli decorated the restaurant for the holidays. Every table had a flickering candle in a holiday globe, the hearth was bedecked with a grand red ribbon, and wreaths and holly surrounded the room to give it an intimate look. Built around 1804—right on the Bronx River—in the hamlet of Tuckahoe, the large fieldstone building served as a cotton mill for more than a half-century.
The grand structure had also been used as a rubber factory, a raincoat factory during World War I, a pharmaceutical factory, and finally renovated as a restaurant. Stone Mill is owned and operated by Louis DiNapoli and family.
Every detail is attended to with the labor of love that only a family business instills in a place. Everything from a magnificent Christmas tree and outside holiday lights, to inside décor and decorations, were tastefully set. Warmth radiates from the rooms.
“The building itself is over 200 years old. Ten years ago this section was added and we built this atrium in May,” Louis said. The atrium offers views of the restaurant’s park-like grounds. The main dining room seats 85. There is a small room for parties and an inviting old-world style bar off the entrance that resembles a European pub.
“Barges came up the Bronx River and tied up outside in the 1800s; a water wheel supplied power to the cotton factory. When we did this room the excavators discovered a tunnel that at one time led to the building across the street. When we took over the restaurant, the atmosphere was very cold,” Louis explained. “I added family antiques; friends that are artists gave us their works. The antique mirror over the hearth…”
The owner, an affable, gregarious person, was more than willing to share good stories, and good food, which has turned The Olde Stone Mill into one of New York’s finest American-Italian restaurants.