Walk the two blocks of Spencer Place this month and you'll see the same thing residents have been watching for the better part of a year: plywood, ladders, and workmen moving between two storefronts that sit close enough to share a sidewalk. One will finally give the Village its first year-round grocery store since late 2024. The other will replace a sushi lounge with modern Italian. Only one of them has a date attached to it, and it isn't the one you'd expect.
The Gap Nobody's Filled Yet
Scarsdale Village has gone without a market in its own downtown since the original DeCicco's closed in late 2024. That's not a small inconvenience in a Village built around walking to the train, the post office, and the shops on Spencer Place and East Parkway. For close to two years, a quick errand for milk or a rotisserie chicken has meant a drive to Eastchester, Bronxville, or one of the DeCicco family's other Westchester locations, including the one in Larchmont.
The replacement, a new concept called Piccolino by DeCicco & Sons, was supposed to open by the end of 2025. That target came from the Board of Architectural Review presentation back in July of that year. It didn't happen. As of mid-August 2026, exterior windows are in and crews are working the interior, but there's still no announced opening date.
Two Projects, One Short Stretch of Sidewalk
What makes this fall different from the last two years of waiting is that Piccolino isn't the only thing under construction on Spencer Place. A few doors down, at 57 Spencer Place, the space that housed Akai Japanese Sushi Lounge is being rebuilt into Capretta, a new modern Italian restaurant from Z Hospitality Group, the team behind Aurora in Rye and Terra and Mediterraneo in Greenwich.
Here's how the two compare as of this month:
| Piccolino by DeCicco & Sons | Capretta | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Grocery market | Modern Italian restaurant |
| Operator | DeCicco & Sons (John Jr., Chris, Joe Jr.) | Z Hospitality Group |
| Location | Former DeCicco's site, near the train station | 57 Spencer Place, former Akai space |
| Original target | End of 2025 | Summer 2026 |
| Status as of August 2026 | Exterior windows installed, interior work ongoing, no new date announced | Interior tile flooring underway, no grand opening date announced |
| Design note | Copper-roofed cupola echoing the Village clock, planned outdoor seating on East Parkway and Spencer Place | Chef-driven concept from a group with three prior Westchester and Connecticut restaurants |
The proximity matters more than it might seem. A two-block downtown getting a grocery anchor and a dining anchor at the same time, on the same short walk, is not something that happens often in a Village this size.
Why the Grocery Store Slipped and the Restaurant Might Not
The Piccolino delay has a specific, traceable cause. The renovation is a full gut job, from the basement up, not a cosmetic refresh. DeCicco & Sons is simultaneously building a new store in Glenville, which has pulled crews and attention in two directions at once. On top of that, the family has flagged a real logistical concern: the Village lot serving the site is small, and they're still working out additional customer parking before they can commit to a date. None of that is a minor scheduling hiccup. It's the kind of constraint that pushes a "by December" target into "we'll let you know."
Capretta's runway looks steadier, at least on paper. Z Hospitality Group's own announcement still lists the opening as this summer, and the group has a track record of delivering concepts on schedule elsewhere in Westchester and Fairfield County. But summer is most of the way through, and the most recent on-the-ground reporting still shows tile work in progress rather than a finished dining room. If you're planning around an opening night, treat "late summer" as the working assumption rather than a confirmed date.
What This Actually Changes for Your Week
The distinction between these two openings isn't just trivia for people who like construction updates. It tells you which errands to start planning around and which ones to keep routing elsewhere for now.
If your weekly grocery run has been a drive to Eastchester or Bronxville, that habit isn't changing yet. Piccolino's parking question alone suggests the Village is not going to rush this one just to hit a marketing deadline. The Sunday farmers market on Chase Road has filled part of the gap for produce and prepared foods during the season, but a seasonal Sunday market can't replace a store you can walk to on a Tuesday night.
Dinner plans are a different story. Scarsdale already has Bistro de Ville, a French spot on Summerfield Street that's become a neighborhood fixture since opening in September 2023. Capretta adds a second reason to eat in the Village rather than driving to Rye or White Plains, and it does so with a kitchen team backed by three other restaurants that have already proven themselves in this market. If you've been saving a special dinner for when something new opens near the train station, this is the one more likely to actually happen before the leaves turn.
The Practical Version
Here's the short version if you're trying to plan your fall around Spencer Place:
- Piccolino has no confirmed opening date. Construction is visibly active, but the combination of a full gut renovation, a second store under construction in Glenville, and an unresolved parking plan means this could slip into winter.
- Capretta is still targeting this summer per its own announcement, with interior finishes like tile flooring underway as of mid-August. A firm date hasn't been posted, but the timeline is tighter than Piccolino's.
- The Village hasn't had a walkable, year-round grocery option since late 2024. Whichever month Piccolino actually opens, it will be the first time in nearly two years that a Scarsdale resident can handle a grocery run without getting in the car.
Why It's Worth Watching
Most Village storefront turnover is minor. A shop changes hands, a lease ends, nobody outside the two adjacent businesses notices much. This is different because both projects sit on the same short stretch of sidewalk and both address something residents have been missing for a specific, dated reason: a grocery store that's been gone since 2024, and a restaurant space that's been sitting empty since Akai closed. When they both land, even a few months apart, the two-block core of the Village changes in a way that's easy to feel and hard to overstate.
If you've lived in Scarsdale long enough to remember when the old DeCicco's was still open, you already know what its absence has cost the daily rhythm of the Village. Watching these two storefronts finish out is really watching the Village get back something it lost, plus something new alongside it.
I keep close tabs on changes like these because they shape what it actually feels like to live here day to day, not just what a listing photo can show. If you're weighing a move to Scarsdale, thinking about what your current home is worth in a Village that's actively adding to its walkable core, or just want a local's read on how these openings might affect a specific block, Jennifer Baldinger is always glad to talk through it. Schedule a consultation whenever the timing is right for you.
