Suffern’s restaurant scene took a hit when longtime favorites Marcello’s Ristorante and Java Love Coffee Roasting Co. shuttered their doors between 2022 and 2023. Now, in 2024, locals can pay homage to both spots while celebrating an entirely new concept in the form of Lavagna.

Taking up the former Java Love space, which was a bank building prior to that, Lavagna aims to delight Italian food lovers in Rockland County. It has just the team to do so, since co-owners Ariel Aufgang, a first-time restaurateur and the architect behind Suffern-based Aufgang Architects, and Don Brennan, of the Mahwah, ecruited none other than Lloyd Leon, Marcello’s former sommelier, to serve as host in the space.