About Us
Our story originates from what we thought was a frivolous conversation in the early 2000s. Yet, almost 20 years later, it all came to fruition.
Something important to us both is to remember what, and who, lead us here...the Amoratis family. If it was not for them we would not be the proud owners of what we consider home to us... once Alfa Pizza that is now Nautilus.
The Amoratis family opened Alfa Pizza in Milford, CT in 1980. Antonios Amoratis and his wife Vasoliki, were the founders and operators of the business. Throughout the many successful years in business, although at one point they had 3 pizza places in different cities, Milford's location stayed in business for over 41 years.
The couple were also residents of Milford, so it was easy for them to become a staple to the community and well known for their acts of kindness and traditional Greek style pizza of course.
Eventually Alfa's turned the small quaint pizza place into a full service restaurant. In 2000, their sons, John and Mike had the idea to transition the restaurant into a restaurant offering a full bar. This decision brought in more business and allowed them to welcome more staff, and most, if not all of the newly hired staff remained with Alfas for as long as 21 years. Crystal Ardito became a part of that staff, along with John's son, Nick.
For many years during this time Nick, and Crystal worked side by side, sharing many conversations of one day opening their own establishment together. However, life happened and Nick ended up with a different career, while Crystal continued to work for the family for nearly 17 years. John would often times join in and joke along with us both about the growing potential he saw in the business, his love for the restaurant, and his equal love for the idea we toyed with.
Sadly, In 2010, John was lost in a tragic accident. This detrimental loss caused such sorrow, not only within his family, but also with the many people's lives he touched throughout his life and the surrounding community. So, although John has not been able to see what the space has transformed into, we know he has been along side of us the whole way.
John's brother Mike was left to run and manage the business, mostly with the help of just his father, Antonio and Crystal Ardito by his side. For the better part of the next decade, Mike dedicated his entire life to Alfa Pizza. Unfortunately in 2021 the family endured a tragic accident involving Mike, which caused the family to shut down Alfa Pizza for good with hopes that this legacy would manifest into something else entirely-and it did.
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Nick decided he wanted to revamp the business his grandfather built many years ago and try to make it something his family would be proud of again. He had a vision but he knew he couldn't do it by himself. So he reached out to Crystal, and together after a few more good talks, they found that they still had a similar vision in what they wanted to see in that space...which they would later call Nautilus. With so much help from family, friends and the many supporters in the neighborhood, they have finally brought their vision to life.
After almost a year of long nights, planning, dreams and visions... Nautilus Milford finally opened its doors to the public. Excitement and anxiety were just a couple of the words they used to describe their adventure.
They focused on one another's strength, survival, and renewal-which coincidentally assisted them with the naming of the restaurant.
This venture was a long time coming in the hearts, and minds, of the owners. The meaning runs deep into the foundation of the business- figuratively and even quite literally. With much success during the first year of business as Nautilus, with the same support from friends and family, Crystal moved on; no longer living in CT but still able to be proud of her and Nick's accomplishments.
With Nautilus becoming something Crystal could be proud of, she was able to confidently hand over her position to long time staff member Deb.
Nautilus - The chambered nautilus is one of the oldest creatures known to survive in the Earth's oceans. It is a symbol of nature's grace in growth, expansion and renewal. It is also a symbol of order amidst chaos...
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