Abby Nooney prepares cones with chocolate and sprinkles at Coney Waffles & Ice Cream, which opened last week at 18 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The doldrums of summer may be upon us, but not in the realm of tastebuds.

The ever-changing food scene in downtown Red Bank continues its evolutionary bustle, as this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn shows.

Dennis Foy in the dining room of his newly opened Café Loret. Below, the exterior of the former Gaetano’s, rebranded as Neapoli.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.) 

• Chef Dennis Foy and his wife, have opened Café Loret at 128 Broad Street.

Foy continues to own and operate the highly regarded d’floret restaurant in Lambertville. He calls his latest creation “a modern American brasserie.”

The space, at the corner of Peters Place, has gone through two tenants since Sicilia closed at the end of 2015, the most recent being JJ”s Organic. But Foy tells Churn he believes he can it work. The location, on the southern margin of the central business district, is “fabulous,” Foy said.

“You go three blocks north, and you want to shoot yourself looking for parking, but there’s no problem with parking here,” he said.

• Ice cream purveyor Coney Waffles is now open at 18 Broad Street, formerly home to Ariston Hair Design.

The shop is the fourth for owner Joe D’Esposito, who opened one in Belmar in 2016 and two more in 2017: one in Long Branch’s Pier Village and the other Asbury Park.

It’s also home to a patened “confectionary hinged pocket waffle.” Seriously; click the link.

• Former Ama chef Chuck Lesbirel and his brother, Tylar Lesbirel, have opened Semolina in the former home of Dish, at 13 White Street.

The 15-table eatery is all about farm-to-table. And the brothers are on a “mission” to address the noise level in the restaurant, they say in a humorous post on their Facebook page.

• Two years after Louis and Maria Andrianos acquired Gaetano’s from founder Tom Cappello, the brother-and-sister pair have renamed the restaurant Neapoli.

The large space, at 10 Wallace Street, has also gotten an impressive interior makeover and new signage.

• Fizz Soda Fountain has gone pfft.

Partners Canio Paradiso and Kevin Kopacko opened the ’50s- style mini-diner, with just eight stools, in January at 8 Monmouth Street, in space previously occupied by Paradiso’s Red Bank Sub Shop. But as of earlier this week, the business is “on hold,” Paradiso tells Churn.

• As previously reported, Carlo’s Bake Shop, opened by TV celebrity Buddy Valastro, also known as the Cake Boss, closed this week after less than five years operation at 86 Broad Street.

Principals in Ten Company, which owns the space, are hopeful of landing a replacement tenant soon, they tell Churn.