Fans of Carmine's saw their holiday wishes fulfilled Dec. 26 as the Italian restaurant on North Water Street reopened after a seven-month hiatus. "Great news and on my birthday!" Susan Sousa commented on Facebook. "Yes, there really is a Santa Claus," wrote another fan, Kimberly Vieira.

The former Carmine’s Italian Ristorante reopened with a slightly different name — Carmine's at Candleworks — and a few other changes, including a new menu. Customers who once noticed a drift away from Italian dishes hailed the return of an almost exclusively Italian dinner menu, from Carbonara to pizza to Frutti di Mare. Even the cod comes wrapped in prosciutto.