There are two doors at 70 Main St., and this summer they went in different directions. On July 21, Pesca Peruvian Bistro announced it would close after nearly eight years in the large restaurant space that once held the Plum Tree. Less than two weeks later, NewCanaanite reported that The Amateur had opened at the same address. The new shop sells technical running, cycling and ski apparel, and it took over a former gallery space that had been empty for several years.
The Amateur is a store, and it moved into a former gallery. Nothing has been announced for the Pesca dining room. Since July, downtown New Canaan has kept adding small, specialized retail run by founders from the next town over. Restaurant capacity is the part that hasn't been replaced.
What 70 Main St. Lost, and What It Gained
Pesca's ending wasn't a sudden failure. NewCanaanite reported that co-owner Wilson Rodriguez wanted to retire and saw little benefit in staying open "during a general slowdown of the business." He and chef Jose Draganac opened the restaurant in December 2018. It hosted parties, business gatherings and nonprofit fundraisers along with regular dinner service. As of mid-October, the recent NewCanaanite business coverage names no new tenant for the space.
The Amateur fills a different gap. Founder Alex Holmes told NewCanaanite that the store carries apparel and accessories only, with no hard goods. Running and cycling come first, and alpine skiing gets added as winter approaches. The running brands include Bandit, Satisfy, On Running, District Vision, Norda and Hoka. The cycling side carries MAAP and Universal Colors. Holmes explained in the same piece why he chose New Canaan:
"You've got a really nice cross section of running and cycling, pulling from both the Northern Westchester, New York side and also the Fairfield County side in Connecticut."
Holmes lives in Westport. That detail keeps coming up in this fall's openings.
The New Tenants Share a Profile
Look at the storefront changes reported between July and early October together and the same pattern repeats. The new businesses are small and narrowly focused, and several are a founder's second location or an owner's first.
| Address | Change | Reported |
|---|---|---|
| 70 Main St. | Pesca Peruvian Bistro announces closing | July 21, 2026 |
| 78 Elm St. | Lilly Pulitzer Splash of Pink closes after seven years | July 22, 2026 |
| 70 Main St. | The Amateur opens in a former gallery space | Aug. 3, 2026 |
| Elm St. | Dry Martini Clothing announces a Sept. 12 opening | Aug. 19, 2026 |
| 28 Vitti St. | Sticks announces a November opening | Sept. 14, 2026 |
| 98 Park St. | Calibrate Physical Therapy and Fitness opens | Sept. 23, 2026 |
| 6 South Ave. | Kset moves from Elm St. to the former The Agency space | Oct. 5, 2026 |
Sticks is a Westport-based golf simulator company, and New Canaan will be its second location. The club will sit on the second floor at 28 Vitti St. Owner Ali Loyd told NewCanaanite that membership is capped at about 50 people, with no drop-ins.
Dry Martini Clothing is a Manhattan women's fashion brand, and New Canaan was announced as its second physical store. The NewCanaanite announcement gives the address as 70 Elm St. in the article text. Its photo caption says 78 Elm St., which is the former Splash of Pink storefront. The coverage we reviewed doesn't confirm that the Sept. 12 opening happened, so treat it as announced.
Kset belongs to Kristen Setter, a Wilton resident who graduated from Wilton High School in 2016. The shop opened on Elm Street earlier this year and has since moved to South Avenue at Morse Court. Setter told NewCanaanite that she picks every piece herself at trade shows in New York and Las Vegas. She called the current space "a stepping stone" and said she hopes to be in New Canaan permanently.
One business went the other way. When Splash of Pink closed, owner Amy Cesaratto invited New Canaan customers to the company's renovated Westport store, and store manager Wendy Probert moved to the Westport team. So the exchange between New Canaan and Westport runs both ways. A Westport retailer consolidated out of Elm Street, while a Westport resident and a Westport company both chose downtown New Canaan for something new.
The Dining Side Is Running Smaller
The restaurant changes this year don't match the retail pace, and the existing food spots are either new or reduced.
- South End Bar reopened in a smaller space behind Uncorked at 17 Elm St. CT Bites reported it back in business at the end of March 2026.
- Doppio, the Italian restaurant at 62 Main St., was celebrating its first year in August 2026, so it opened about a year before that.
- Green & Tonic, at 21 Forest St., is still marked temporarily closed on the company's locations page, with no reopening date. In August, the company directed customers to its Darien café.
Taken together, downtown has one returning bar in a smaller footprint, one Italian restaurant past its first year, one café still closed, and the Pesca dining room without an announced successor. Meanwhile the retail list above has grown by about half a dozen businesses since midsummer. Several of the new arrivals are retail, fitness or membership businesses. None is a restaurant.
This Fall's Calendar Runs Through Institutions
With fewer new tables on Main Street, the reasons to come downtown or into town on a given evening this fall come mostly from established institutions. These are the dates on record as of Oct. 12.
The biggest street event lands on the block with the most turnover. The New Canaan Chamber of Commerce's Halloween Block Party runs on Elm Street on Sunday, Oct. 25, from noon to 2 p.m. The street will be closed to cars, and School of Rock is scheduled to play. It will be the first busy afternoon on Elm since Splash of Pink closed and the new shops announced their openings.
Grace Farms has two Saturday programs before Halloween. Tea Diplomacy is on Oct. 17, and the Founders Architecture Talk is on Oct. 24, both from 2 to 3 p.m. The bigger date is violinist Nemanja Radulović with Double Sens on Sunday, Nov. 15, from 3 to 4:45 p.m.
The New Canaan Land Trust has a full Monday on Oct. 26. The Chamber calendar lists its Story BOOk Walk with Miss Dajana at 4 p.m. At 6:30 p.m., the Land Trust is at the library with "Saving the Beech Forest," a talk on disease, loss and restoration at Colhoun Preserve. The same calendar lists the Bartlett Lecture on Moral Courage with humanitarian Georgette Bennett on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m., and a Costume Halloween Party at the Roger Sherman on Friday, Oct. 30, from 7 to 11 p.m.
From Halloween to Thanksgiving
- Through Nov. 21: Silvermine's calendar lists its 36th Annual Student Exhibition from Oct. 12 to Nov. 21. The listing doesn't print a year, so confirm before you go.
- Nov. 7–8: Silvermine's Artisans Market and Fine Art & Craft Fair, also listed without a year.
- November: Sticks is scheduled to open at 28 Vitti St., with no day announced.
- Nov. 21: the New Canaan Nature Center Holiday Market, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Nov. 26–28: The Glass House closes for Thanksgiving. Its 2026 tour season ends Dec. 14.
After that comes the Holiday Stroll. The Chamber describes it as an Elm Street evening on the first Friday in December, with stores open late and a tree lighting. That would put it on Dec. 4 this year, but the Chamber hasn't published a 2026 date yet. The stroll will be the first holiday season for The Amateur, Kset at its South Avenue address, and Dry Martini if it has opened by then.
The question to watch between now and the stroll is whether anyone announces a tenant for the old Pesca dining room. A new restaurant at 70 Main St. would do more for downtown evenings than any of the shops on the list above.
The new tenants on Main and Elm show how quickly a downtown storefront is re-leased and what kind of business takes it. That same timing shapes how homes near the village get priced. If you own near Elm, Main or South Avenue and want to know how this fall's changes compare with recent sales on your street, The Leslie Clarke Team can prepare a home valuation based on those blocks.
