A restaurant is coming to the former Dunkin' Donuts University in Braintree
BRAINTREE − Leo Keka plans to convert the former Dunkin' Donuts University on Granite Street into a restaurant and a function hall.
Keka, the owner of Alba restaurants in Quincy and Hanover, plans to name the restaurant Scutari, the Italian version of the name of his Albanian hometown of Shkodër.
He said the restaurant would be similar to his former Trattoria Alba in Quincy Square, which was closed when its building was taken for road construction. The new restaurant would feature moderately priced, Northern Italian cuisine.
"I always wanted to do something in Braintree," Keka said in an interview outside the building. "I think a lot of our guests come from the Braintree/Holbrook area. I like the location. It's a great opportunity for me."
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Keka will lease the 15,000-square-foot building from local developer George Clements, who bought it last year. He said the restaurant will have between 120 and 130 seats and will feature a full bar. The function area will have a capacity of 200 to 210 people.
"There's a lot of function business, and besides no place for them," he said, pointing to neighboring Randolph, where the Lantana function facility is closed and Lombardo's next door is set to close in December.
As for an Albanian running an Italian restaurant, Keka said its not that unusual He recently traveled to New York, where he said "Every Italian restaurant in New York is owned by an Albanian." Albania sits across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, about 400 miles away.
He prepares Italian dishes at home, his favorite is osso buco, a veal shank over palenta. His favorite Italian restaurant is Prezza in the North End.
Keka still needs a couple of approvals from the town before he can open the restaurant. He is scheduled to go before the appeals board Aug. 28 to increase the size of the parking lot. He also needs liquor and restaurant licenses.
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He said he hopes to open the restaurant in March. He said he is trying to decide between two candidates for the job of chef, both of whom are natives of Italy.
Braintree Mayor Charles Kokoros said he is excited that Keka is planning to come to the town.
"He is one of the most successful restaurant owners on the South Shore and we're thrilled to have him," Kokoros said. "He puts his heart and soul into the business and it shows. I look forward to many great meals and occasions."
The Dunkin' Donuts Training Center was the formal name of Dunkin' Donuts University. For more than half a century, students from around the would undergo a six-week, hands-on training program to cook, brew and serve the company's products. There were mockups of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream shops inside the building.
But with the chain moving doughnut production to centralized bakeries, there was less need for in-person training. Much of the curriculum is online now. The school graduated its last class a year ago.
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The final exam at Dunkin' Donuts University was to make a total of 140 dozen doughnuts (1,680) in eight hours.
Keka, a history buff, was asked if doughnuts would be on the menu at Scutari in tribute to the building's former occupant.
"We'll make doughnuts for dessert," he said.
Reach Fred Hanson at fhanson@patriotledger.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Leo Keka plans to open Scutari at former Dunkin' school in Braintree
