"I want the people in the neighborhood to say, 'That's my deli,'" Henry Jedda told the Greenwich Free Press this June, standing in the room he had just spent five months gutting at 83 Pemberwick Road.
The paper described the road outside as the well-trafficked corridor connecting the Post Road to Glenville. Over the course of 2026, a deli, a garden center, a nonprofit greenhouse shop and the town's road crews each added a reason to stop, and the first week of October shows all four at once.
Where the shelves used to be, there are tables
Jedda had not planned to expand. Six years ago, after a long career in New York importing silk fabrics, he took over Castle View Deli at the corner of Morgan and Comly Avenues, a counter that had already been running for 80 years. When Vi's Polish Deli closed, he took the chance to open a second deli.
The renovation shows what the room is now for. Rows of shelves gave way to a seating area with tables and chairs, plus a counter that looks out onto Pemberwick Road. Castle View has none of that room. Jedda said he hopes friends and colleagues will meet at the new place for breakfast or lunch. He called it a "community hub" in the making.
The details are specific:
- Chef and manager Douglas Mercario runs the hot dishes. Jedda says everything except the deli meats and cheeses is made from scratch at both of his delis.
- Coffee comes from New England Coffee. Muffins are baked in time for the first customers at 7 a.m., and there are five flavors of iced coffee.
- The breakfast menu includes egg whites, turkey bacon, spinach and cheddar in a whole wheat wrap. Jedda has said he will name a sandwich after any customer who comes up with a great one.
- Police, fire and EMS workers get a discount.
Hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays. The deli is closed Sundays. The deli had a soft opening in mid-May. By early June, career firefighters from the Glenville station were stopping in for lunch. Jedda also said busy families pick up hot dishes in the afternoon to take home for dinner, using the on-street parking on the block. A counter that feeds both lunch and dinner gives people a reason to pull over at either end of the day.
The intersection was rebuilt with sidewalks
The second change is in the pavement. By June 1, new sidewalks and traffic signals were in at the intersection of Glenville Road and Pemberwick Road. Outside Glenville Pizza at 243 Glenville Road, new curb and sidewalk replaced the informal parking area, and parallel spaces were added west of the restaurant.
The Town of Greenwich scheduled the final overnight milling and paving for June 21 through 25, 2026. The work was mostly on Glenville Road between Weaver Street and Glen Ridge Road, with sections of Pemberwick Road, Weaver Street, Riversville Road and Glenville Street included. The town's notice said minor punch-list items and closeout would remain after paving. No closeout notice has been posted since. As of early October, the project is best described as paved and in its final stage.
Sidewalks and marked spaces matter more at the Glenville end of the corridor than anywhere else, because that is where the next two stops are.
Arch in Bloom runs on a seasonal calendar
At 201 Pemberwick Road, Arch in Bloom held its annual Pumpkins & Pints on Saturday, October 3. There were children's activities, beer from Greenwich Brewing Company, and hot dogs topped with chili and sauerkraut. The advance notice listed hours of noon to 6 p.m. and parking across the street at 200 Pemberwick Road.
The event is over, but the displays stay up. The Greenwich Free Press called the animatronics "extremely spooky." They remain on view through Halloween, alongside pumpkins, gourds, chrysanthemums in a range of colors, and a retail shelf of tarot cards, Venus fly traps and candles.
The business comes out of a family trade. Arch in Bloom's own history traces its roots to the D'Andrea family's nursery work and says founder Derek D'Andrea opened the Greenwich garden center in 2019. The same page dates the company's start to both 2008 and 2011, so the 2019 garden-center opening is the firmer date. In 2021, the Greenwich Free Press described the business as offering locally sourced nursery stock, landscape design, masonry, lighting and irrigation, and noted that D'Andrea's father, Bill, worked there. D'Andrea appeared in photos from this year's Pumpkins & Pints.
The calendar continues after October. Last year the garden center sold fresh-cut Fraser, Balsam and Noble fir trees, wreaths, garlands and seasonal décor, and held Flurry Fest on December 6, 2025. No 2026 date has been announced yet, so the December plans are a pattern rather than a schedule.
The Abilis greenhouse reopens on Tuesday
The last stop has been the longest in coming. Abilis Gardens & Gifts at 50 Glenville Street holds its grand reopening and ribbon cutting on Tuesday, October 6. The First Selectman has said he will give a proclamation recognizing October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
The renovation explains the timing. By December 2025, the shop and greenhouse were in the middle of a major renovation, so that year's holiday Sip & Shop moved into the main building. Abilis has said the fundraising for the project was meant to make the Gardens & Gifts program usable year-round and to strengthen its role in retail-skills training and jobs for adults with disabilities.
In practice, the store is a place to shop and a place to work. In the town's words, Abilis Gardens & Gifts is "an inclusive retail business that provides meaningful employment and vocational training opportunities for adults with disabilities." Abilis also staffs the Greenwich Library Café and the Island Beach concession stand. The Abilis gifts page lists flowers, jewelry, handmade bath and body goods, candles and gifts. It gives hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays or by appointment. That page predates the renovation, so the hours are worth checking after Tuesday.
The corridor's October, in order
| Date | Place | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| Through Oct. 31 | Arch in Bloom, 201 Pemberwick Road | Halloween displays, pumpkins, gourds, mums |
| Tuesday, Oct. 6 | Abilis Gardens & Gifts, 50 Glenville Street | Grand reopening and ribbon cutting |
| Monday to Saturday, from 7 a.m. | Pemberwick Deli, 83 Pemberwick Road | Breakfast, lunch, hot dishes to go |
| December, date not yet announced | Arch in Bloom | Christmas trees and greens, based on the 2025 season |
Up the road, DeCicco & Sons opened its grocery at 21 Glenville Street on September 9, in the former Stop & Shop, with its main entrance and expanded parking behind the building. Together with the deli, the garden center, the greenhouse shop and the new intersection, it means an errand along Pemberwick Road this fall can have several stops, including breakfast at Jedda's counter and a mum from D'Andrea's tables. It can end at a greenhouse whose staff includes adults in Abilis's retail-skills training program.
What these places share is how they were built: each one planned its room, its menu or its calendar around neighbors who come back. At New England Land, we follow the same idea at The Field Point Greenwich, where a 13-residence collection is served by an on-site kitchen and staff who come to know each owner. To see how that service works day to day, request a private consultation and residence details.
