CLIFTON PARK — When Jen Chura and David Siewert worked at Upstate Concert Hall and needed a quiet escape from the noise and swirl of bands and fans, they’d pop across the street to Antipasto’s Bistro & Wine Bar. Later, as co-owners of the Albany venue Empire Live, Antipasto’s remained their go-to spot for wine and pizza, because it is only minutes from their home.
Starting this week, Chura and Siewert are proprietors and part-owners of Antipasto’s as Steve Zumbo, who founded it in 1996, eases into retirement and concludes a restaurant legacy begun when his grandfather founded Panetta’s Restaurant in Albany in 1924. Chura and Siewert have been working at Antipasto’s since early summer while the sale was being finalized among them, Zumbo and Erik and Jen Bruhns, also longtime regulars who have become majority owners under the new structure.
Closed for a couple of days earlier this week for the transition, Antipasto’s reopens Wednesday, though a grand-opening fete likely won’t be held until December…