Author: Donna Ardizzoni

New owners taking over Morning Glory

A Lynnfield couple, who currently own and operate the Mediterranean bistro Yella in Andover, plan to open a similar eatery on Western Avenue at the site of the former Morning Glory restaurant, directly across from Stacy Boulevard and the vista of Gloucester Harbor.

The new restaurant, according to co-owner and manager Danielle Berdahn, will be called Yella on the Water. Yella is a common phrase in several Mediterranean languages for “Come on, let’s go.”

Berdahn said she and her husband, chef Carlo Berdahn, plan to operate seasonally from March through December, offering lunch and dinner service seven days a week for both indoor and alfresco dining on an attached deck.

The couple, doing business as DAB Restaurant Group, has filed an application with the city for a full seasonal liquor license for the new establishment. The Licensing Board has set the public hearing on the license for Monday at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

The application states the restaurant will occupy about 1,450 square feet and seat 86 — 50 inside the restaurant and another 36 on the existing 280 square-foot deck the Berdahns hope to expand slightly by wrapping it around the existing building.

They are leasing the property at 25-29 Western Ave. from the Trustees of the Harbor View Realty Corp.

The opening of the restaurant will return Berdahn to a place of some of her happiest childhood memories, when her family used to summer in West Gloucester. Her father now is a year-round Gloucester resident.

“We’re really excited about our plans,” Berdahn said Friday. “Gloucester is such a special place.”

Both Berdahns are experienced restaurateurs.

They’ve operated Yella in Andover for nine years, generating excellent reviews, including being named as a top restaurant by the popular Phantom Gourmet television dining show.

The Andover restaurant currently is closed as it continues to deal with issues related to the natural gas disaster that devastated much of the Merrimack Valley in September.

Carlo Berdahn, originally from North Lebanon, first worked as a chef at The International Beirut hotel and is classically trained in seven cooking styles. He came to the United States in 2001 and later opened The Phoenecia Cafe in Orleans on Cape Cod.

He sold the cafe in 2006 and went to work as a chef for the catering company, The Catered Affair, where he met Danielle.

Danielle Berdahn previously previously worked at the fine-dining restaurant, Aujourd’hui, in the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston.